


The Butterfly Effect

by Queenbee3480



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Canon Universe, F/F, Not Canon Compliant, Past Evil Queen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:22:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28815591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenbee3480/pseuds/Queenbee3480
Summary: Emma fell through the time portal alone. Regina followed her just in time to see her past evil self take Emma prisoner. Now, she has to figure out a way to get them both back home without completely destroying their timeline and future.Oh and she has to figure out these new feelings that keep cropping up whenever she least expects it.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 34
Kudos: 261





	1. The Time Portal

**Author's Note:**

> Set at the end of 3B, during the time portal story. Zelena actually died when Rumple attacked her in prison.

When the lights first appeared in the sky, Emma couldn’t deny that her immediate reaction was relief. The reaction made no sense because mysterious lights in Storybrooke never signified anything good, but there it was anyway. It was strong, so strong that she could almost reach out and touch it and it revealed something she wasn’t quite sure she was ready to deal with.

The relief wasn’t a good thing. It wasn’t a bad thing. It simply was.

The reason for the relief, however, was slightly more complex. Just before she saw the lights, she had been sitting on a park bench with Killian Jones trying to find a way to tell him that selling his boat to come get her from New York City wasn’t the romantic gesture he clearly thought it was. It was elaborate and over the top and if she were completely honest, a little bit creepy.

She sat there, trying to let him down easily, her unease with the situation growing with each passing moment. Her instincts had been screaming at her since the day he showed up at her apartment and right about now, she was regretting not listening to them

Emma Swan had great instincts and they told her several important things about Killian. He sailed (literally) through life on his good looks and charm. He viewed himself as a grand romantic figure, ready to duel anyone for his lady love at a moment’s notice. And most troubling of all, once he had a target in his sights, he became obsessive in his desire to acquire them. Right now, he clearly viewed Emma as his next conquest.

She didn’t want to be his Savior. She didn’t want to be his redemption. She didn’t want to be his _anything._

His reaction to the lights was uncharacteristically similar to hers, considering it came from a man that was always trying to pin her down and get her to talk to him. It was clear from his reaction that he did not like the direction this particular conversation was headed, and he was thankful for an excuse to table it for a while. No doubt he would use the time to come up with some new gesture designed to turn her head and manipulate her feelings.

A problem for another day.

Right now, she needed to figure out what the lights were and what danger their little town was suddenly exposed to. She ran into the building that appeared to be the source of the magic, Killian hot on her heels to see the portal spinning and swirling. Like the idiot Savior she was, she instinctively ran towards the danger, instead of away from it.

She didn’t count on the portal growing, although she obviously should have, and before she could adjust her stance, she found herself hanging on to Killian’s hand desperately trying to pull herself back up. It was only when she accepted that she had no chance of freeing herself that she realized the next problem.

Hook’s face had lit up with the realization that he had just figured out his next great gesture. The sudden thought of being trapped wherever this portal ended up taking her with just Hook as her ally seized her heart and she yelled out in warning.

“No!” she shouted, and he startled just enough for him to let go of her arm. In the milliseconds that followed, she saw exactly what she needed to survive whatever was to come.

She needed someone dependable beyond belief. Someone she knew would never turn their back on her because their personal survival instinct told them it was a good idea.

She needed someone who never gave up fighting, no matter how hopeless things became.

She needed magic. Not just someone who wielded it, but someone who understood the ins and outs of it if she ever had a shot at getting home.

She needed someone that saw possibilities where they didn’t really exist, someone with patience and determination who would leave no stone unturned in her mission to return to her son.

“Regina!” she yelled out just before the portal closed. Hoping with all her heart that he heard her and that he would listen to her warning, she let herself fall.

“Find Regina.”

\--------------------------------------------

If Emma was confused by the relief she felt seeing the lights in the sky, Regina was equally as confused by whatever tormented her heart at the moment.

She had a chance at a life with her soul mate. She had her son back in her life. Zelena was dead, and while a part of her mourned the loss of a sister she had never known, mostly she was glad that the threat was gone.

Regina wasn’t someone that was used to happy endings, so it was entirely plausible that she was just incapable of recognizing one. Still, this had all the makings of one, which made her discontent so confusing.

She woke each morning next to Robin and professed her happiness. She made Henry breakfast and went to work and came home to loving smiles and warm embraces. And she still felt like something was missing.

Something big.

Was she really so used to fighting that she just didn’t have any idea how to be happy anymore?

True, life wasn’t perfect. For example, there was the looming threat that Emma would return to New York and take Henry with her, though she wasn’t particularly worried about that. She believed that Emma would figure things out and even if she didn’t, she was secure in the knowledge that Henry wanted to remain in Storybrooke. She and Emma would work something out that was in the best interest of their son without getting involved in a messy custody battle. Emma was scared, but she wasn’t unreasonable. As long as her decisions remained rooted in Henry’s best interests, they would always figure something out.

So, it wasn’t a fear of losing Henry that bothered her. Perhaps the thought of Emma moving away caused her more anxiety than she was comfortable admitting to, but Robin’s presence by her side should be more than enough to relax her.

Shouldn’t it?

She shook her head silently to try and dislodge the ever-present doubt that kept creeping up in her mind. It wasn’t the first time she had done that in the last few days and just like all the other times, it didn’t work.

When Hook came running into her office, she was grateful for the distraction but there was no way she would allow him to see it. She glared at him as he tried to catch his breath. Though she was barely even listening to his ramblings, her attention was caught by several important words.

“Emma…..portal…..gone…..Zelena”. He wheezed, trying not to pass out from lack of oxygen.

Her magic reacted without her realizing it. Hook flew backwards, landing on her couch. A glass of water appeared in his hand.

“Drink that and then tell me exactly what happened.” Her voice left no room for argument, but he tried anyway.

“Emma’s in trouble,” he attempted to say, as she glared at him again.

“ _Drink,”_ she ordered.

“Rum would do a better job.”

She snarled and raised her hand again, the threat clear in the motion. Quickly, he drank the water and felt his breathing begin to even out and his head begin to clear.

“Did you enchant the water?”

She ignored the question. “Why are not telling me what happened yet?”

He quickly relayed the events. They saw the lights coming from the building where Zelena had tried to cast her spell earlier. The portal reopened and swallowed Emma before she could get to safety.

“And you just let her go?” she demanded, furious. She had always suspected the pirate wasn’t as brave as he pretended to be, but she assumed that he would have jumped on the chance to be her knight in shining armor.

He shook his head violently. “She wouldn’t let me. She told me to find you and tell you what happened.”

She sneered at him to cover up the warmth in her chest at his revelation. “Pathetic.”

“Wait!” he said, causing her to lower the arm she had been about to use to transport herself.

“What?”

“Where are you going?”

She sneered again. “To fix this, obviously. That’s why she sent you to me.”

“I want to help. Let me come with you.”

’ _Truly pitiful,’_ was her thought as she took in the disheveled figure before her. She shook her head in disbelief at him.

“I can’t imagine that you would be of any use in what I’m about to do, Captain,” she said, almost gently. “But you can find Emma’s parents and tell them what is going on. Tell them I am already on it. I don’t have time for a heart to heart with the Charmings at the moment.”

He looked as though he wanted to argue, but she paid it no mind. “Just go, Hook. We don’t have time for this.” She lifted her arm again, then lowered it to make a final point.

“Captain, under no circumstances are you to tell Henry what happened. I will do that myself.” Satisfied that she had made her wishes clear, she departed.

\---------------------------------------------------

She was irritated, but not surprised, when Hook and the Charmings ran into the building, Henry hot on their heels.

“Damn it, Hook,” she growled.

“Don’t blame Hook, Mom. I was there when he came in and wouldn’t leave.” Henry looked to his grandparents for backup and they nodded in confirmation.

“What happened?” David asked, already crouched down at the now dormant spell form.

She sighed, impatient to get going with what she needed to do but acknowledged that the Charmings and the pirate had a right to know what was going on. Not to mention Henry.

“I’m not exactly sure, but I think that Zelena’s death caused her magic to look for a new host.”

“But I thought her magic was contained in the necklace?” Snow inquired.

She held up the necklace that she was holding. It was no longer glowing in her hands and to an outsider just appeared to be an ordinary piece of jewelry.

“I took this from my vault before I came here. There’s no magic in it anymore, at least not that I can detect. I think that at the moment Zelena’s soul departed from the world, the magic was released from the necklace and it went back to the last place it had been used.”

“Here.”

“Yes.” She waved her hand near the items that had been used to build the spell. “It completed the portal she was trying to create. That’s what you and Emma saw, Captain.”

Snow and David looked at each other, trying to make sense of this. “Then Emma, she didn’t just travel between realms. She-“

“She went back in time. Yes, that is my best guess.”

“But where is she? When is she?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. My suspicion is that it works the same way the beans work. It would have taken her to whatever place and time she was thinking of. Does anyone have any idea what that might be?”

“Does it even matter?” asked Hook. “If the portal is closed, we can’t get to her, no matter where she went.”

She shrugged and waved her hand over the ground again. “There are still some traces of Zelena’s magic left here. I can probably gather it and channel it to re-open the portal. But there is only enough magic for one shot, so I need our best guess of where and when she went.”

Henry’s face was impossible to ignore. He looked as though he had something vitally important to say, but was afraid to speak up. She ignored the rest of them and focused her energy on him.

“What is it, honey?”

“I have a guess,” he confessed. “But I’m scared that I’m wrong and you will get stuck someplace and time entirely different than where she is.”

“Tell me,” she encouraged softly.

He sighed and gave in. “Just before she went off with Captain Hook, we were reading the storybook. The story of how Grandma and Grandpa met.”

She nodded her understanding. “If that story was in her mind when she jumped, that is likely where she ended up.”

“Do you think that’s it?”

“I think that is our best guess.” She looked around at the rest of the group who were all listening silently. No one seemed to have any objection. “Unless anyone has a better idea?”

Still, no one spoke and she bent down to extract the traces of magic from the ground. “Ok then. That’s what we will go with.”

“We’re coming with you,” Snow said firmly.

“No, Snow.”

“I wasn’t asking, Regina.”

She directed the magic into a vial in her hand and turned around to face her former adversary. “Neither was I, Snow. Time travel is tricky. I can already feel things starting to shift here, just by Emma being in the past where she doesn’t belong.”

She cut off David and Hook’s argument before they even had a chance to open their mouths. “We can’t have a bunch of people tramping around the past, possibly running into past versions of themselves and messing with things they don’t understand. The potential consequences could be devastating.”

“The Butterfly Effect,” Snow said quietly.

Impressed despite herself, she flashed the younger woman a quick smile of approval. “Precisely. We need to minimize the damage as best as we can and that means as few people as possible in the past. So, unless someone has a valid argument against the only one here with magic being the one to go, I’m going.”

She turned to her son, who had remained quiet since he suggested Emma’s likely location. He still didn’t speak, but his eyes were filled with worry at her words.

“I’ll bring her home, my little prince,” she promised quietly. He nodded but as she turned back to the spell, he spoke.

“It isn’t just her that I want to come back,” he said, tears threatening his eyes. Stunned silent for a moment she looked at him, then quickly pulled him into a hug.

“Be careful,” he murmured into her chest. “I just spent a year without you, I don’t want to lose you again.”

“You won’t,” she promised. “I’ll be careful.” She cleared her throat to fight the rising emotion, then turned back to the spell.

“So that’s it. You were just going to go without saying anything to me.” The new voice startled her, and she blinked. The truth of the matter was that it had never occurred to her to tell Robin what she was about to do.

She fought the rising guilt in her and turned to face him.

Her soulmate.

Her partner.

The man that she never even considered talking to before leaping into a portal to an unknown place and time to save Emma Swan from this latest disaster.

She had no time to contemplate the implications of that fact, so she pushed it deep inside of her and motioned for him to step away from the group with her so that they could speak in relative privacy.

“Robin, I have to go. I have to do this.”

“Of course, you do. She is your friend and the mother of your child. But Regina-“

She interrupted him, not ready to hear whatever it was he was about to say. To keep him from speaking, she kissed him gently, albeit less passionately than he probably wanted her to. “We’ll talk when I get back,” she promised.

He nodded his agreement, though frustration and disapproval were evident on his face. When she returned to the portal to sprinkle the remnants of Zelena’s magic to re-open it, he stayed with the rest of the group, pretending not to see Hook’s look of professed sympathy that was directed his way.

She poured the magic on the items to reawaken the portal, trying to keep enough in the bottle to potentially use for a return trip home. The fact that there was almost nothing left in the bottle didn’t escape her, but she would have to deal with that once she found Emma.

She took a final look at the people gathered around the portal, gave her son one last reassuring smile and jumped.


	2. Arrival

Emma’s arrival in the Enchanted Forest was uneventful, if somewhat abrupt. The portal dumped her out unceremoniously in the middle of the forest and she tumbled over as she tried to regain her footing. Unfortunately, all that happened was that she lost her balance altogether and she landed on her ass.

‘ _Nice one, Swan,’_ she mocked herself as she brushed her hands and looked around. Thankfully, no one was around to witness her graceful landing. Although, she supposed that if anyone had been around, she would have had a bigger problem than just a bruised ego.

 _‘Ok, where am I?’_ The answer seemed pretty obvious. She was in the Enchanted Forest, she recognized it from the last time she was there. She took a moment to be thankful that she landed here instead of someplace truly horrific like Neverland or Oz.

‘ _I could have ended up in Tatooine,’_ she thought to herself wryly. At least the Enchanted Forest was obvious and probably the first place that Regina would look for her.

Assuming, of course, that Hook bothered informing Regina of what had happened. For all she knew, he went back to the Jolly Roger and was currently drinking himself into a stupor. She didn’t _think_ he would do that to her of course, but she also hadn’t thought that he would steal a magic bean and run away to leave an entire town to its death.

Who knew what Hook would do? All she knew was that she couldn’t count on anyone to get her out of this mess. She was going to have to figure it out for herself. She needed magic, but the only wielders that she knew of in the Enchanted Forest were long gone. Regina, Rumple, Cora. They were all either dead or in Storybrooke, so that was out.

She tested her magic again, but while she could feel it tingling inside of her, nothing happened. Amazingly, Zelena’s curse on her magic seemed to be outliving the witch that cast it. Breathing out her mouth slowly to calm her nerves, she focused her energy the way Regina had taught her to.

Nothing.

Her magic was there, but it was locked away someplace she couldn’t reach. Damn wicked witch. She made a mental note to give Regina a hard time about her crazy family when she saw her next.

Assuming she ever saw her again.

‘ _No,’_ she told herself firmly. It was too early to start despairing about not being able to return home. She could do this. Ok, there was no mages around that she knew of, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t find one. Or that one that she knew of didn’t leave something useful behind.

The obvious choice here was Rumple. The Dark One was a collector and he had been in prison when the curse was cast, so it was entirely likely he had all sorts of useful magical items still lying around abandoned in his castle.

She had no idea whether or not looters had stripped his castle bare years earlier, or even where the castle was, but one problem at a time. Right now, her most immediate problem was the fact that she was currently dressed in jeans and a red leather jacket. Not exactly standard Enchanted Forest fare.

Rule 1 of bounty hunting. Always blend into your environment.

Having decided that her first move was to find a clothesline to pilfer some clothes from, she began what was inevitably going to be a long arduous journey. And was immediately brushed back by a knight on a black horse. She frowned, recognizing the uniform from the storybook.

_‘Black Knight? That’s weird.’_

From her understanding, the Black Knights were the Queen’s personal guards. They should have been disbanded years ago, assuming any of them even survived the curse. Why were they here and who exactly were they guarding?

She barely had time to process the question when the carriage came flying down the dirt path. Led by 6 black horses and guarded on every side by knights, it would have made for an impressive spectacle anywhere it went. Here, on the outskirts of this dirt-poor town, it was positively terrifying.

Ok, Emma could possibly buy that the Knights were revived to guard whoever rose to fill the void of power when Cora departed for Storybrooke. But that carriage was unmistakable. It made an appearance in nearly story in the book and it always announced the arrival of just one person.

Unless she was completely off in her sudden suspicion, she was in much more trouble than she initially realized. She held her breath and ducked down further behind the boulder she was using as hiding spot. The carriage door was flung open and there she was.

And what an imposing figure she cut. Emma swallowed hard in shock at the sight before her.

The black leather pants, the elaborate hat. The angry flash of the eyes.

The cold smile she remembered all too well from her first days in Storybrooke.

 _‘No, not imposing. Terrifying.’_ Emma thought before she could stop herself.

This was the Evil Queen in all her glory, at the height of her power and madness. She had no idea how she knew that and she sure as hell had no idea how she had gotten there, but she was certain beyond measure that this woman was dangerous.

And yet, despite it all, Emma couldn’t help the feeling of relief that bubbled up in her. This woman, as dangerous as she clearly was, was familiar. She was home. She was-

“Regina,” she breathed.

\----------------------------------------------

Regina realized as the portal opened that while she knew she was going to the Enchanted Forest and the date she needed to arrive, she didn’t actually know exactly where to go. She had read the book, of course, so she had some idea of where Snow and Charming had met, but she wasn’t familiar enough with the Enchanted Forest to be able to picture that specific location in the forest.

It was too late to ask them to describe the location in detail to her or to read the book again, as portals only stayed open for seconds. Minutes, at best. Besides, she didn’t want to admit that she hadn’t thought of that rather obvious problem before she opened the portal.

She was going to have to pick a more familiar location to focus on. Quickly, but more calmly than she probably had a right to be considering the situation, she considered the possibilities.

Her castle was out. There was already a pretty big risk she was going to encounter her younger self; there was no reason to tempt fate with that this early. 

She could pick a random village, but while she knew many of them well enough for it to be a safe pick, it wouldn’t be especially helpful.

She also didn’t know what time Emma jumped to. She could potentially arrive moments after the blonde or miss her by hours. No, she needed someplace where she could get her hands on some magic to compensate for that.

In the seconds before she jumped, she decided on a location. A place that held someone that had been both a mentor and a foe to her younger self. A place where, assuming she could avoid detection, would likely have all sorts of helpful items in her quest to find Emma.

Rumpelstiltskin’s castle

\------------------------------------------------------

It wasn’t Regina, of course. Not really. Or it was, but not one that she could dare risk reveal herself to.

She watched in wonder as the Queen did her spiel. Her cold voice indicated complete calm, but Emma knew her well enough to know it hid fury.

This wasn’t an act. This wasn’t Regina putting on a show to scare people. Eyes wide, Emma followed the Queen’s movements as she stalked about, the villagers nothing more than prey she was toying with.

She threw out some threats that would have sounded meaningless from anyone else.

She took a random, helpless woman prisoner.

Then she was gone, leaving Emma wondering what the hell just happened.

That was when she truly fucked up for the first time. Her thoughts were so consumed by what she had seen that she walked through the woods, she neglected to watch where she was going. She never saw the branch she stepped on until it was too late.

Not just any branch. No, that would be too easy, too simple to be worthy of Emma Swan. No this had to be a branch that cracked just at the moment her parents were to meet, causing the guards to become suspicious and a young Snow White to scamper away.

The realization hit her then that she was in the past and not only had she stepped off of the path and killed a butterfly, she had also just managed to prevent her own existence from happening. She bit back a choked, panicked laugh.

Could this situation get any more _her?_ God, she could almost hear Regina berating her and the sound was so clear in her head that she actually whirled around to see if the Mayor had suddenly arrived.

But of course, she hadn’t. Regina might be able to figure out where she had ended up, but there was no way she would be able to guess _when_ she was. Not to mention, even Regina couldn’t open a time portal. Zelena had barely managed it and she had planned for years and still died before it was done.

No, she was going to have to do this one on her own. Just like the good old days.

 _‘The good old days are overrated,’_ she thought bitterly as she tramped through the forest. The only good thing to come out of this was that Rumpelstiltskin was still here in the Enchanted Forest. Which, granted, may not have been the best thing, but at the moment Rumpelstiltskin’s castle was the only place she could think of to go.


	3. Rumpelstiltskin

When Emma had seen Rumpelstiltskin’s castle originally during her first trip to the Enchanted Forest, it had been run down and stripped bare. The desolation had been overwhelming, much like every other place in the Enchanted Forest that had been abandoned by the enacting of the Dark Curse.

This castle was something else entirely. It was still dark and isolated, but it carried a sense of doom that permeated every corner that Emma searched.

She still wasn’t sure if she was better off finding Rumple or hoping that he didn’t show up before she could find something that would to help her fix the mistake she had made and return home. Despite Regina’s best efforts to teach her, she wasn’t sure she would even recognize such an item, let alone have any idea how to use it, so she could really use his help. On the other hand, she had no idea what she was supposed to say to him if she did see him. Was she just supposed to tell him the truth about being from the future? Would he believe her?

She supposed it didn’t really matter. Something told her that Rumple would not be thrilled about an intruder in his castle. “I bet he would kill me on sight,” she muttered to herself.

“Oh, I’ll take that bet.” The shrill voice, accompanied by the maniacal giggle, had her cursing internally. Her eyes turned wide in panic as she felt her breath begin to constrict. She kicked her feet wildly as she was lifted off the ground and she struggled to speak.

“I do enjoy when the struggle, but all the same I wish you would settle down and let me enjoy my killing in peace,” he mumbled as he concentrated on the spell.

“You need to let me go!” she choked out. “If you ever want to see your son again.”

Instantly, she was dropped to the ground. “What do you know of my son?”

She coughed to try and clear her throat so that she could get words out before he changed his mind about listening to what she had to say. “His name is Baelfire. You’re planning to enact a curse in hopes of reuniting with him.”

“And who told you that?” he demanded. “Are you some kind of witch?”

“No,” she said shaking her head. “I’m the one who breaks the curse so that you can get back to him. I am the product of true love.”

Hoping that was enough to convince him to hear her out, she waited with bated breath.

“That’s speculation. I haven’t done it yet.”

“You will,” she assured him, hoping she sounded convincing.

“But if that’s true, then that means…”

She watched the realization dawn on his face and breathed a quiet sigh of relief that it would not be that hard to convince him to believe her after all. “I’m from the future,” she said quietly.

In the time that she had known him, Emma had seen Rumpelstiltskin in many different lights. She knew him as a cunning businessman that would sell a helpless baby.

A desperate father wiling to do anything to reunite with his son.

A man who would plant an idea to trick Regina into killing her own mother in order to save his own life.

A dangerous killing machine who thought nothing of destroying the lives of everyone around him.

Towards the end of the time that she knew him, she had even seen him as an unlikely hero who stood up to Peter Pan to protect Baelfire.

But in all the time that she had known him, in all the ways that she had seen him, she had never seen him look like this. The look on his face showed something she never would have thought she would see. It showed hope.

She knew hope could be a powerful tool. But she also knew, that if crushed, it could lead to levels of devastation that would turn an already ruthless villain into something even less human than he already was. And she knew that she was about to have to crush at least some of that hope on his face.

She was going to have to tread very carefully.

“If you’re from the future, tell me something.”

She already knew what he was going to say before he asked the question.

“Do I succeed? Do I find my son?”

She hesitated before she answered. Telling someone their future had the potential to be catastrophic. Even with her limited knowledge of magic, she knew that. But this was Rumpelstiltskin and she had no idea what he would do if she refused to answer.

At best, he would refuse to help her.

At worst….well, probably best not to consider that.

For what felt like the millionth time since the portal opened back in Storybrooke, she wished she had Regina beside her to help her figure this out. She wasn’t experienced enough in magic to have any idea what the hell she was doing. In fact, she was just experienced enough to be aware just how in over her head she was right now.

Rumpelstiltskin made an impatient sound in his throat and she knew she was out of time to make a decision.

“You do,” she admitted. “But I need your help.”

He rolled his eyes impatiently. “You’ve changed things.” It wasn’t a question, nor was the heavy sigh that followed anything but a sound of complete derision. “What have you done?”

“Interrupted my parent’s meeting,” she confessed sheepishly.

He listened without interruption as she explained who her parents were and how they were supposed to meet when Snow stole Prince James’ ring.

“If I don’t get things back on track, I will have never been born,” she said desperately. “I won’t be able to break your curse.”

He shrugged indifferently. “Right now, the future is a blank slate,” he pointed out. “Who is to say that another product of true love won’t break it instead? Your parents aren’t the only ones in love in the Enchanted Forest, you know.”

Shit.

“That’s true, but-“

“But what?”

“Prince Charming is the one that breaks the sleeping curse Regina puts on Snow White.”

“Regina?” The look of surprise on his face was evident.

“The Queen,” she explained.

“Yes, yes, I know who she is, dearie. I am just surprised that you would call her by her first name. You know, and you live to tell about it.”

“Uh…right.” She shook her head impatiently, eager to get back to the matter at hand.

“If David, the Prince, isn’t around to break the sleeping curse, she will consider her revenge complete. She won’t have any reason to enact your dark curse.”

The familiar scowl on his face told her she was getting through to him. “She puts the Princess under a sleeping curse? Where does she even get her hands on that?”

She shrugged. She knew the answer, but she really couldn’t see the point in getting into the details of that. They were short on time, after all.

“Never mind, I know the answer to that. Damn dragon,” he mumbled. He attempted to look unbothered, but he was already defeated, and he knew it. She provided a final push.

“You may be able to find someone else to break the curse, that’s true. But I happen to know you spent years grooming and training the Queen to enact it for you.” She offered a silent apology to Regina in her head as she condemned her to her original fate. “Are you willing to risk having to start all over again with someone else?”

She had him. She knew it, she just had to wait for him to give in. It was a moment she was all too familiar with from her time as a bail bondsperson. The moment when the mark was trapped, but they refused to accept it. She had always enjoyed getting to sit and watch as they ran through the possibilities in their heads. It always ended the same way, with a look of defeat she had found so satisfying.

It was less satisfying now, but it was there all the same.

“What do we have to do?”

“I need to get Snow White to steal the ring, so that the Prince can catch her in the act.”

He nodded in agreement. “Well, you’re in luck. There’s a ball tonight at King Midas’ castle to celebrate the Prince’s engagement. He will be there and so will his ring. All you need to do is get Snow White there. Come, let’s figure out where she is.”

\------------------------------------

Having jumped instead of fallen through the portal, Regina landed more gracefully than Emma had. A few extra steps were all she needed to regain her footing when the portal spit her out on the grounds behind Rumpelstiltskin’s castle. 

She had chosen her landing spot deliberately. While she would have to find a way to break into the castle now, landing inside ran the risk of being dropped at Rumpelstiltskin’s feet. Not a good start to this particular adventure.

Thankfully, he was nowhere in sight, so she was able to take a moment to think and check on the stability of her magic. She formed a quick fireball as a test and to her relief, it formed in her hand with no trouble.

She contemplated transporting herself into the castle, but it presented the same problem as being sent there by the portal. She wanted to avoid contact with Rumpelstiltskin if at all possible. Besides, the castle was likely warded against unauthorized entries of magical energy.

The only thing she could think to do at the moment was walk around the grounds and see if she could find a way to sneak in. She had walked about a half mile around the castle perimeter when another idea occurred to her.

She could simply dress as the Queen and walk in through the front door. She had done that all the time during her time as the Queen, so it would not raise Rumpelstiltskin’s suspicions. If she was lucky, she might even be able to trick him into giving her information that she desperately needed.

“Ya just missed her.” The voice made her jump, and she swore silently when she realized she was standing face to face with the imp himself. He giggled at the surprise on her face.

“Missed who?” she asked innocently.

“The blonde. Ya know, from the future. The one I’m assuming you’re trying to find seeing as how that is clearly where you’re from, too.” He giggled again, the sound sending chills up her spine. Somehow, she had allowed herself to forget just how much she had hated that sound.

“What makes you say that?”

“Oh, come now, Your Majesty. Or should I say _Regina?_ That’s what the blonde calls you, you know.”

‘ _Damn it, Emma,’_ she thought to herself. But perhaps she was being unfair, perhaps Emma had no choice but to tell Rumple the truth about being from the future.

‘ _Or maybe she’s just an idiot,’_ the voice in her head persisted. She shook her head to clear the thought. For now, she would choose to believe that Emma had good reason to reveal herself and go along with it.

“Where did she go?”

“Now, why on earth would I tell you that?” he tittered.

“Because if you know she is from the future, then I’m guessing you know that she is the one that broke your curse so you could reunite with Baelfire.”

“I do know that, Your Majesty. And I must say that I am surprised to see that you are still alive if the curse is broken. I would have thought that the heroes would have made short work of you." He laughed again and clapped his hands "Oh wait! Is that why you’re here in the past? Are you on the run?”

She shook her head, but doubted he would have any reason to believe her. “No. I need to find her and get her home before something gets messed up and she cannot fulfill her destiny.”

“Oh, it’s far too late for that, dearie.” He waved his hand nonchalantly, but the worry was evident on his face. “The stupid girl managed to prevent her own parents from meeting. Any minute now, she’ll blink out of existence.”

Her heart dropped at the news. If Emma ceased to exist, then so did Henry. Her mind sank back into the misery of the year in the Enchanted Forest without him when she thought she would never see him again.

‘ _Never again,’_ she vowed.

“You _have_ to tell me where she went,” she insisted. “I can help her fix things. I know the details of how Snow and Charming met. We can set things right before it all gets destroyed!”

His eyes narrowed and when he spoke his voice came out as a hiss. “If you really enacted the curse, then you crushed the heart of the thing you love most. You and I both know what that was, don’t we?”

 _Daddy._ The image of his face just before she crushed his heart jumped into her mind against her will.

“You’ve become soft in your old age, Your Majesty. You’ve lost the hunger in your eyes. You think I can’t see it, but it’s obvious. How do I know you don’t regret killing your father? How do I know you won’t take this chance to make sure your younger self doesn’t go through with it?”

“I won’t. I promise, I will still go through with casting the curse.”

 _‘I’m so sorry, Daddy.’_ She ordered herself to stop thinking about him. There would be time to shed tears for him later.

“Why on earth would I believe that?”

She sighed and decided to tell him the truth. “Because I have a son, too.” At his shocked look, she pressed on, hoping he would believe her. “I have a son in the future and if I don’t cast the curse, then I will never get him.”

“ _You_ have a son? Who on earth would reproduce with you?” He sneered at her, just as he used to in order to manipulate her, but she was older and wiser now and his needling didn’t get to her anymore.

“Never mind that. It’s the truth.”

“Say I do believe you. How do I know you won’t still cast the curse but prevent the blonde from being born to make sure it never gets broken?”

It was a valid question, and despite her frustration at the delay, she knew that answering him was the quickest way to get him to talk to her. “My son is adopted. The blonde, Emma, is his birth mother. Believe me, I have no desire to see her blink out of existence.”

He stared at her eyes narrowed to the point they almost appeared to be closed. She had been on the receiving end of this stare before and she knew that he was trying to read what was hiding in her very soul. She made one last plea, hoping to get through to him.

“Please Rumple. For the sake of _both_ our sons, tell me where she went.”

He continued to stare at her, before finally nodding. “She went to the ball at King Midas’ castle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next: Regina finally catches up to Emma, but it may be too late.


	4. Snow White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma comes face to face with the Queen.

Although she wasn’t surprised by Captain Blackbeard’s refusal to help her escape now that she had nothing to offer him return, Snow White was still irritated by the turn of events. She should be halfway to another kingdom by now, far out of the Queen’s reach, but instead she was stuck here.

She scowled when she thought of that afternoon’s events. She hadn’t recognized the royal that she happened upon during today’s attempted heist, but he was traveling the Queen’s road. That was all the information she needed. It was _his_ fault she wasn’t already on Blackbeard’s ship. He was going to be the one to provide her with what she needed now.

Focused as she was on figuring out how to find him, she was startled when someone reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into an alleyway.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“A friend,” the voice assured. The figure was covered in a large hood and they remained in the shadows so that their face was unrecognizable. The voice they spoke with came out in a whisper.

“Friends don’t normally kidnap you.”

“This isn’t an abduction. I overheard your conversation with Captain Blackbeard, and I think I can help.”

“How?”

It wasn’t that Emma wasn’t used to elaborate cover stories. She had certainly used them often enough, both as a criminal and as a bail bondsperson. Still, she was finding it difficult to look her mother in the eye and lie directly to her face. Worse, she was finding it difficult not to blurt out who she was and beg her mother for help.

God, when had she become so needy?

She forced herself to remain hidden and whispered again. “There is a ring that Blackbeard prizes. It doesn’t have much in the way of monetary value, but it belongs to a young royal that is attempting to rid the Enchanted Forest of pirates.”

“Why?”

She had no idea if her story made any sense, but she was in too deep to back out now. “Pirates attacked his ship when he was a child, and he was one of the only survivors. Now he is threatening to triple the Royal Navy when he comes into power and kill every pirate to sail the seas.”

Snow considered this. “What does that have to do with me?”

“The royal in question will be at a ball tonight at King Midas’ castle that is being thrown to celebrate his betrothal to the Midas’ daughter. He will have the ring with him to give to her. If you were to steal it, I guarantee Blackbeard will take you anywhere you want to go.”

“But why me?”

The hooded figure shrugged. “You’re a bandit and you’re desperate. If you don’t want to do it, I am sure I can find someone else to steal the ring.”

This made a bit more sense to her. “So then, you’re not trying to help me. You want that ring stolen for reasons you’re not telling me, aren’t you?”

Oddly, this made her feel better. Blind altruism was not something she could trust, but she had no issue allying with people for a mutually beneficial goal. “I suppose you are not going to tell me the reason you want to rid the prince of his ring?”

“You suppose correctly.”

Snow thought it over, but only for a moment. She was starting to suspect that the mysterious royal in question was the one that escaped her trap this morning and she wanted to see the look on his face when he realized his ring was missing. Actually, she just wanted to see his face, period. She had only caught a glimpse earlier that day, but it had been on her mind ever since. And she really did need to escape the long arm of the Queen’s reach.

“Ok, it’s a deal. I’ll get the ring and you….wait what will you do?”

It was too late. The hooded figure was gone, and Snow was alone in the alleyway. Narrowing her eyes, she set off for Midas’ castle.

Emma breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped out from her hiding place behind a building after watching her mother depart the alleyway. She had done it. She had gotten Snow to agree to steal the ring and she had managed to convince her without letting the other woman see her face.

So far, so good. Of course, she still needed to find appropriate ball attire, get to the ball herself, make sure Snow managed to steal the ring, stay out of everyone’s sight _and_ figure out a way to get back to the future before she fucked anything else up.

But hey. One problem at a time, right? She allowed herself a brief moment of celebration. Maybe she could do this after all.

\-------------------------------------

Her encounter with Rumpelstiltskin made one thing clear. She couldn’t continue to wander around the Enchanted Forest with the Queen’s face and the clothes she was wearing. She had to make a decision between posing as the Queen and hoping she didn’t run into anyone that knew she wasn’t supposed to be here or going with a glamour spell.

She selected the glamour spell for several reasons, but one reason above all others. While she couldn’t remember this ball in particular, she had attended most royal events held in the various kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest. It was reasonable to assume the Queen would show up. Midas and George would have to have been suicidal idiots not to invite her.

Of course, the glamour didn’t offer her the protection that disguising herself as the Queen would. As the Queen, she would be able to enter the ball without question and no one would dare mess with her. Still, she couldn’t risk two Evil Queens running around the ball.

No, this called for something with a bit less flair and a bit more subterfuge.

She considered several options in her mind before settling on one and went over the plan in her mind. She would enter the ball posing as a visiting dignitary from Oz named Zelena, sent by the Wizard. She was willing to bet that there was no one there from Oz that could contradict her tale and hopefully hearing “Lady Zelena of Oz” would catch Emma’s attention.

When Emma approached to confront her, and she was absolutely certain that she would, she would tell her they needed to talk in private and undo her glamour spell. Then, together, they could fix whatever mess Emma had made and go back to Storybrooke. Hopefully, before the Queen noticed them.

She would have to be careful not to use magic because if the Queen was anywhere in the vicinity, she would recognize the magical energy instantly. Still, she was fairly certain that she could handle herself in the castle without magic. She searched the plan again for anything she missed, but found she was satisfied with it.

Quick. Easy. Simple.

Mind made up, she conjured up an invitation and headed for the castle.

\--------------------------------------

Emma’s arrival at her first ball was somewhat underwhelming. She had found (ok, stolen) a red gown at a local tailor and despite feeling completely ridiculous about the whole thing, had managed to present her invitation with minimal incident.

Ok, so she had moment of idiocy when King Midas asked for her name and she froze and blurted out Princess Leia. Thankfully, he had not asked her where she was from because she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have actually said Tatooine. All of her vast experience at cover stories would have proven useless at keeping her laughter at that at bay if that had happened. He hadn’t asked, although he _had_ looked curiously at her when he realized she hadn’t come with an escort.

Now, she was here.

Her first ball.

Despite herself, she felt a twinge of sadness as she thought of her parents. It made no sense; she should be laughing at the lunacy of the whole pompous affair. Instead, she was picturing Snow White’s face in her mind telling her how much she had once looked forward to helping her get ready for her first ball.

 _‘Alcohol,’_ she told herself. _‘Alcohol will help.’_ It always did.

She wondered just how scandalous it would be for a young maiden to flag down a server for a glass of champagne instead of having a man fetch it for her. Then, she realized she didn’t care. She was stuck at this stupid ball all alone and she _really_ needed a drink.

The drink proved useful as a distraction when she noticed the dance floor. Again, instead of finding the ritual ballroom dancing ridiculous, she was struck by an odd feeling.

Longing.

It was all so very absurd. She hated dresses, hated parties, and hated dancing. So why was she suddenly wishing she were out there on the dance floor being led in a waltz by….

She froze when she recognized the imaginary partner her mind had conjured up. ‘ _Damn, what is in this drink?’_

As though her mind had literally summoned her there, the doors suddenly flew open and in she strode. Looking every bit as imposing as she had earlier that day, the Queen stalked into the room, acting as though she didn’t notice the dancing come to a halt and everyone’s eyes on her. A tiny smirk, noticeable only to those that knew her well, was the only sign that she enjoyed the attention.

“Your Majesty, thank you for honoring us with your presence,” King Midas said, formally.

“Thank you for your kind hospitality. And I hope you don’t mind that I brought a few friends.” Her arms flew up to open the doors again to reveal 6 Black Knights.

Emma swallowed as he next mistake suddenly occurred to her. She hadn’t asked Rumple to disguise her with a glamour spell and now If the Queen saw her, she was doomed. Even if she managed to escape, on this new timeline she had created Regina would recognize her as soon as she arrived in Storybrooke. She may not know exactly who she was, but the Regina she had met back in 2011 would take no chances with the sudden arrival of someone that she had met in the Enchanted Forest. She would probably kill her that same night.

Fuck, she hated time travel.

_‘Ok, Swan. Time to go.’_

The sudden commotion provided the perfect cover, and she ran up the stairs to the roof of the castle. The Black Knights were shouting that Snow White had been spotted inside. Desperate as she was to find her, she almost tripped over the Black Knight that was taking aim at Snow White escaping on a horse.

“No,” she shouted. She grabbed his arm, causing his arrow to fall uselessly to the ground. Before he had a chance to recover, she ran back inside hoping to get away before he could alert anyone to her presence.

“There she is!” A knight shouted. “She’s the one that helped Snow White escape!” The Queen turned around in fury and Emma froze.

“Regina-“ she began.

“That’s a bit informal, wouldn’t you say? It’s _Your Majesty.”_

There was nothing to do at that point but try and make one last desperate run for her life. She turned to do that when she heard it.

“Introducing Lady Zelena of Oz.”

Too late to silence the announcer, Regina could only watch in horror as it played out. Startled by Zelena’s name, Emma stumbled. The Black Knights seized her and forced her to her knees in front of the Queen. She tried to struggle, but even from her place at the entrance to the ballroom, Regina knew that it was no use.

“Snow White may have left the party early, but I suspect your night is just beginning.”

Regina closed her eyes briefly. She remembered that tone of voice very well. She had used it when she was covering up simmering rage, knowing that it struck more fear in her subject’s hearts than any amount of shouting ever would.

“Take her away.”


	5. The Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is where any similarity to the canon story ends. From here on out, it is all original story.

“Bring me the prisoner!”

Everyone in the room knew the Evil Queen was enraged. It was hard to miss with the way she was stalking around the room and flinging fireballs without paying the slightest bit of attention where they would land. The Black Knights glanced at each other in worry before 2 of them ran to heed her request.

The Queen was always angry. Sometimes her anger was ice cold rage directed at a specific target. When that happened, her subjects thought she was giving them a chance to explain and apologize their way out from under her wrath. It never worked; she would just look at them calmly before breaking their neck and walking away.

Other times her anger was red hot fire that swept around a room, destroying everything in its vicinity. When that happened, no one and nothing was safe from her fury. She killed and destroyed with wanton abandon, without ever showing the slightest sign of remorse.

There was no way to anticipate or predict how she would react to anything. She often switched from one extreme to the other so that no one knew what to expect. But whichever way she chose to express it, anger was the only emotion the knights had ever seen from her and it made their job very dangerous.

Yes, the Queen was always angry. Everyone knew it.

What they might not have known was how exhausting it was to always be that angry. How she sank into bed every night, every ounce of energy expended in her quest to keep the rage alive.

They didn’t know that she woke up every morning to the feelings the rage was designed to protect her from. Each day the pain grew deeper and the weight of her choices grew heavier, so she had learned to summon the anger as soon as she awoke so she didn’t have to feel it. 

“Where the hell is she?” The Queen roared and two more knights hurried out to see what was keeping the original pair. The remaining knights glanced at each other uneasily. The Queen would not go without taking her rage out on someone for much longer.

When the first two knights entered with Emma chained between them, all six knights breathed a sigh of relief. From the corner of the room, Henry Sr. watched sadly as his daughter shifted from a restless ball of excess energy to the ice-cold Evil Queen that everyone knew.

She took her seat on the throne and watched as the knights dragged the prisoner forward. Eyes narrowed, she observed the woman in silence.

There was spirit there, she had to admit. The girl looked dirty from being in the dungeon and a bit overwhelmed, but there was anger in her expression as she stared the Queen directly in the eyes. After years of looking at eyes that held but nothing but terror and listening to people begging for their lives, she couldn’t help but be intrigued by the defiant silence.

She remained quiet as well, trying to draw out the anticipation. After a few moments, the woman’s eyes dropped, although they didn’t lose their anger. Still, she took it as a victory. 

“Kneel before your Queen,” she ordered.

Emma bristled and ignored her order. The Queen nodded at the knights that were flanking her and they shoved her down to the ground.

“You’ll find that willfulness is not a safe strategy around me. Now, who are you?”

“My name is Princess Leia,” the girl said.

“Leia? Princess of what?” she demanded.

The prisoner did not answer and for the first time, the Queen noticed a flash of panic in her eyes. Unsure if she felt triumphant or disappointed at the sight, she pushed on.

“Answer me!”

Emma tried to think, but the desperation of her predicament was beginning to get to her. This wasn’t Regina, who she could cajole out of her bad mood with a bit of teasing and distraction. It wasn’t even the Mayor that she had met 3 years earlier. That woman had been intimidating, but not like this.

This was the Queen. Suddenly, Emma could see why the people of Storybrooke were still so wary around her, even after she had proven her loyalty time and again. The woman seated before her would kill her without thinking twice about it and it would all be over.

Her parents might never get back on track.

Henry would never be born.

Regina would cast the curse and never find redemption. The curse would go on forever, trapping everyone she cared about.

The Queen saw the light begin to go out in the woman’s eyes and despite herself, could not help but wonder what she was thinking about. She shifted slightly on her throne, irritated by her curiosity.

_‘Snap out of it, Regina,’_ she ordered herself.

She didn’t care what was happening in this mysterious girl’s mind. She refused to.

She told herself to just do it, just raise her arm and twist the woman’s neck. When she found that she could not, she decided to blame it on the fact that the prisoner may know where Snow White was.

Purely to prove to herself that she could hurt this girl if it became necessary, she formed a fireball in her hand and threw it at the prisoner. The woman didn’t flinch. She still did not look afraid or even surprised. The Queen wondered if she had already resigned herself to her demise. With a quick flick of her wrist, she directed the fireball to the tapestry behind the blonde’s head, not paying any attention when it caught fire.

“You will answer me, or I won’t redirect the next one.” The words were spoken calmly and though the volume of her voice did not change; the timbre dropped an octave. The threat could not be clearer if she had her hands wrapped around Emma’s throat.

Emma’s mind raced for a suitable answer. When nothing came to her, she decided to bluff.

“Storybrooke,” she replied.

The Queen’s eyes narrowed again.

“Where is this kingdom?” she demanded. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s a very small kingdom in the northeast corner of the Enchanted Forest.”

Always keep lies as close to the truth as possible. It was much easier to remember the details that way. When the Queen stared at her disbelief, she doubled down.

“Mostly small towns and villages. Lots of fishing, but not much else to do. And it’s really cold all the time,” she babbled on nonsensically. The Queen’s lips twitched briefly as though she found the blonde amusing and the gesture was so patently _Regina_ that it took momentarily took Emma’s breath away.

The Queen schooled her features back into their normal scowl as she considered her next move. She couldn’t kill the woman, at least not yet. The thought of interrogating her in front of her knights was equally as unappealing when her thoughts were betraying her as they were. She could think of only one thing to do.

“Take her to my bedchamber.”

Emma’s eyes shot back up.

Wait, _what?_

_\----------------------------------------------------_

The knights dumped her unceremoniously on the Queen’s bed. They were used to these types of demands, although it had admittedly been a while since the Queen had ordered a woman to her bed. Since she had captured the Huntsman, her interest in sexual partners seemed to have dwindled considerably.

They left her alone in her the Queen’s room, knowing it was protected by magic and that she could not go anywhere. One of them sneered at her and told her it would be in her best interests to be lying on the bed when the Queen made her entrance.

Emma squirmed on the bed, waiting for the Queen to enter. Part of her, the part that remembered what it was like to be a prisoner, looked around the room for a way to escape. The rest of her knew it was no use.

Besides, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to escape.

How often had she dreamed of just this scenario? Lying helpless on the bed as Regina loomed over her, regal and majestic, with an air of danger about her that couldn’t be denied. Breathlessly, she wondered how long the Queen was going to make her wait.

She didn’t have to wonder for long. The door to the room opened and the Queen stepped inside and bit back a smirk when she saw the blonde lying on her bed, hands tied. With an air of confidence, she flicked her wrist, ridding the woman of her bonds.

“Now then _Your Highness_ ,” she said slowly. “What shall we do with you?”

She let her gaze travel slowly down Emma’s body, drawing out the anticipation. Emma’s breath caught as she watched the Queen’s eyes darken with hunger.

“Strip,” she ordered in the same tone she used earlier.

She shivered slightly at the sound of the Queen’s quiet tone and swallowed hard. Clearly, her imagination had failed her. Even in her most erotic fantasies, she could not have pictured the predatory look in the woman’s eyes or the way that voice would affect her.

The thought of refusing the demand never even occurred to her. She stood up and reached behind her to unfasten the dress, allowing it to pool at her feet. When she reached up to open her bra, the Queen put her hand up.

“Enough.” She motioned her back to the bed and Emma laid down in her bra and panties, trying keep her breath even and her look unaffected. Despite her efforts, she shuddered slightly, making the Queen smirk.

Again, the Queen allowed her gaze to travel her body. She took her time, enjoying every inch of bared skin.

“Interesting choice of undergarments. Is that popular in Storybrooke?”

She didn’t answer, couldn’t have even if she wanted to.

“I could take you right now, you know.” Her voice was casual, even conversational.

“I know.”

“You couldn’t stop me,” she continued.

_‘I wouldn’t want to.’_ She said nothing out loud but was not at all sure the Queen didn’t know exactly what she was thinking.

The Queen smirked again, confirming Emma’s suspicion. To her surprise though, instead of approaching her, the Queen sat down on the side of the bed and sighed. For just a moment, the mask slipped and if Emma looked closely enough, she could a sign of the Regina she knew in this woman’s eyes. Perhaps it was that touch of vulnerability that made her ask.

“Are you ok?”

A burst of laughter escaped the Queen as her head snapped up in disbelief.

“You take liberties that are beyond your station,” she said.

So, the woman _didn’t_ believe she was a princess after all. It figured.

“That’s what they tell me.” She shrugged, trying to look casual despite the fact that she was still trembling.

“Why do you care if I am ok?”

“You look tired.”

The Queen’s eyes flashed at that. “Do you think you can use that to your advantage? Because I assure you, that will backfire.”

“I know. I just…never mind.”

The Queen waited to see if she would continue speaking and when she didn’t, her eyes hardened again.

“Why do I find you so utterly fascinating?” Unsure if she was supposed to respond to that, Emma remained silent. Suddenly, the Queen leaned forward and kissed Emma hard, taking her by surprise.

“When I am through with you, you will beg to be mine,” she said, eyes dark and seductive. Emma’s eyes widened, but she didn’t speak.

“You will never take another lover without wishing it were me instead,” she promised and despite herself, Emma whimpered. Whether it was in fear or anticipation, even she didn’t know.

A cold smile captured the Queen’s face at the sound. “Now then, let’s get started.”

She leaned down to claim Emma’s mouth in another kiss, but surprisingly this time she was gentle and soft. Stunned, Emma felt herself respond in kind, opening her mouth to allow the Queen access.

A frantic knock on the door interrupted them. Dark eyes snapping in fury, the Queen allowed the doors to fly open with a wave of her hand.

“Who dares disturb me in my chambers?” she hissed. The knights stepped aside to reveal Henry Sr. He took in the scene before him but said nothing.

“My apologies for the disturbance, Your Majesty. But Snow White has just been captured.”


	6. Execution

A moment ago, Emma would have bet her life on detecting a touch of gentleness in the Queen’s eyes. Common sense told her that the soft kiss that had been placed on her lips seconds before they were interrupted was a manipulation, but something inside her wouldn’t let her believe it.

The Queen, for all her anger and hate, had felt something. Perhaps something that she hadn’t felt in years.

Maybe it was that conviction that had her speaking up when those same eyes turned black with rage as the Queen jumped up in a hurry. Forgetting that she was still clad only in her underwear, Emma stood up as the Queen went to depart the room.

“Wait!”

She shouldn’t have been surprised at the blast of magic that hit her and knocked her back, but somehow she was and that made it hurt all the more.

“How dare you,” the Queen hissed.

Tears pricked behind her eyes as the Queen whirled and approached her. The air of danger around her, so breathtaking and exciting just a moment before, was suddenly only menacing.

With each step the Queen took across the chamber towards the bed, Emma felt more certain that her life was over. Her breath caught as the Queen descended on her, step by step.

She was about to die and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

Not that it mattered. In a matter of moments Snow White would be executed and she will never have existed in the first place. The Queen’s approach, arm raised with murder in her eyes, was irrelevant.

_Crack!_

The slap across her face made her head spin, but not because of how much it hurt. The tears pricked again as she touched her bruised cheekbone. She stared the Queen in the eyes, seeing the stunned realization dawn on them both at the same time.

She was alive.

She didn’t know why, couldn’t fathom why the Queen had opted to hit her instead of breaking her neck and from the look in the woman’s eyes, she didn’t know either.

But she was alive, and that meant there was still hope.

“You don’t have to do this,” she choked out.

With a snarl, the Queen descended on her again, intent to choke her clear in her movements. Sure enough, her breathing was becoming constricted and spots were beginning to dance before her eyes.

“Please,” she choked out. The grip on her throat loosened slightly and while breathing was still difficult, she was able to speak.

“You…don’t have to…do this. You don’t….have….to be….alone.”

The hand was lowered, and Emma coughed hard, trying to regain control of her breathing. The pain in her cheek was excruciating and she could still feel the Queen’s hand wrapped around her neck in her mind, but she ignored all of it.

“Please,” she said again.

The Queen ignored her as she made her way towards the door. With a wave of her arm, Emma’s hands were tied up again, this time bound to the headboard.

“You will learn your place, _Princess,”_ she hissed as she strode out the door. As she departed, Emma made eye contact with the elderly gentleman she recognized from the story book. His eyes, so full of sadness and grief, now had something else in them.

A touch of hope. Emma knew why, because she felt it too.

She was bruised and the pain was awful.

She was bound and there was no hope of escape.

But she was alive and right now that was all that mattered.

\-------------------------------------------

Furious with herself, the Queen stalked around the throne room like a lion trapped in a cage. The rage felt comforting, like an old friend that she thought had abandoned her but returned at the last moment.

She hadn’t been able to kill mysterious blonde that had suddenly shown up, but she _could_ kill Snow White. Maybe, just maybe, if she did that, she could soothe the beast inside her that was screaming for blood.

Maybe she would be able to sleep without seeing Daniel’s face in her dreams.

She could turn her attention to the kingdom, build it up until it was the most prosperous in all the realms. Her name would be remembered as the greatest ruler the Enchanted Forest ever had. That would be her final revenge against Leopold for all the suffering she had experienced at his hands. No one would even remember him.

It would all be over once Snow White was dead. She would finally see her dream come to fruition in a few moments.

 _‘Hold on to the anger,’_ she reminded herself when apathy threatened to take over. _‘Just hold on to the anger for a few more minutes and then you can go numb.’_

When the Knights marched Snow White into the throne room and threw her bound figure at her feet, she waited for the rush of satisfaction to wash over her. It didn’t come and that was more infuriating than anything else that had happened on this strange day.

 _‘It’s the blonde’s fault,’_ she decided. It had to be. There was no explanation for her reaction other than the mysterious princess’s begging had managed to get in her head. ‘ _I’ll kill her too. Once Snow is finally gone, I’ll go to my bedchamber and snap her neck once and for all for taking this away from me.’_

Mind made up, she turned towards her stepdaughter. She had to admit that her lack of fear in the face of certain death was impressive. That made the second person today that had stared her down with no fear in their eyes. Perhaps she was losing her touch.

She strode towards the younger woman and reached out to cup her cheek roughly. Snow winced a bit at her touch and even though she still did not look afraid, the gesture was still a bit gratifying. She could still inflict pain, it would seem.

“Well, well Snow. Nothing to say for yourself?”

“What do you want me to say, Regina?”

Her eyes flashed at the familiarity. No one dared call her Regina anymore, except her father. She had been named Regina because her mother was determined to see her become a Queen one day. She had always hated her name, hated her mother’s plans for her. Hearing her name now dropping from Snow’s reminded her of all that she had lost.

Her freedom.

Her innocence.

The love of her life.

Her fury was reignited at the reminder and that was good because it made this so much easier.

“Absolutely nothing, stepdaughter,” she sneered. “There isn’t anything you could say that would change your fate, anyway.”

“I know,” Snow said quietly. Her calm made the Queen’s rage flare up yet again. She needed to quiet the blood lust, needed to hear screaming and begging to soothe the beast inside. She made the decision right then that this woman _would_ beg before it was over.

“Build a pyre,” she said to her knights. “Burn her at the stake. I want to hear her scream.”

\-------------------------------------------------

Regina considered it lucky that her younger self was too distracted by Snow’s capture to pay attention to the magic she had to use to get into her castle. She had kept the glamour spell on in case she ran into someone that knew the Queen’s actual whereabouts, but she had found herself at a loss as to how to get past the guards at the gate.

In the end, she had decided that using magic was simply the only way it was going to work and when transported herself to the corridor outside of her throne room, she was certain it was only a matter of seconds before the Queen came storming out ready to blast the intruder back.

When minutes passed and nothing happened, she dared to peek into the open door of the throne room. The fact that the doors were open was troubling, but her questions were all answered when she saw the bound Snow White at the Queen’s feet.

_“Build a pyre. Burn her at the stake. I want to hear her scream.”_

She winced at the words, knowing the level of rage her younger self must be feeling to utter them. Even at her lowest, Regina had always preferred quick and efficient to drawn out and messy. Snow didn’t know it, but the Queen’s anger was the only reason she wasn’t already lying dead on the ground with a broken neck.

She dared to peek in again and one look at the Queen’s face was enough to tell her everything she needed to know. How she wished she could go inside and gather this broken woman in her arms. Tell her that it wasn’t always going to be like this, that one day her world would change, and her heart would begin to mend.

She couldn’t, though. All she could do was watch and wait and try to keep things from getting too out of control. Which meant, of course, that she had to find a way to save Snow White.

Oh, the irony of it all. This was the second time in a matter of weeks that she was going to step in between her sworn enemy and certain death.

_“If she wants to kill you, she’s going to have to go through me.”_

Was this really her life now? Saving Snow White? She could tell herself it was to preserve the timeline and to ensure that Henry didn’t vanish into oblivion, but she also knew that wasn’t the only reason. Seeing Cora’s spirit emerge from the ceiling and try to enter Snow’s body had shocked her into reality.

She didn’t want Snow dead.

That was definitely going to take some getting used to.

\-----------------------------------------------------

In the Queen’s bedchamber, Emma waited for the Queen to return. Aware that at any moment, she could fade in oblivion, she could only hope that the Queen would come back before she killed Snow White.

She thought back to the look in the Queen’s eyes when she had sat down at the bed. This woman was young, probably still in her 20’s, but at that moment she had appeared so old. So tired. Infinitely more impulsive than the Regina she knew, but at the same time, already so very weary of life.

Was this how it had always been for her?

When the door opened, she raised her head up in anticipation. When Henry Mills Sr. entered the room alone, she laid back, disappointed. He covered her with a blanket, then sat beside her on the bed and looked at her for a long moment.

“You’re different,” he said.

She tried to laugh it off. “Different, how?”

“I don’t know, but she didn’t kill you. Why didn’t she kill you?”

She didn’t answer the question, not because she didn’t want to, but because she didn’t know the answer. Instead, she appealed to his compassion and shifted her bound hands as best as she could.

“Will you set me free?”

His eyes filled with sadness as he responded. “I can’t.”

“Please. I won’t let her hurt you.” _At least, not today._

He shook his head in sorrow. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I need to save her and you’re the only one I have seen in years that might be able to do that.”

“Don’t you understand? I can’t save her if I am a prisoner!”

“No! If I set you free, you’ll leave. You have survived her wrath twice now and that means she feels something for you. I don’t know what it is, but you have to get through to her. Please!”

Her head flopped down on the vast array of pillows on the bed. It was no use. He wasn’t going to let her go. Her frustration grew at the thought of her mother at the hands of the angry, damaged woman that had just left the room. But beyond that, underneath the helplessness of not being able save her mother from the Queen’s vengeance and ensuring her son’s survival in the process, something else tickled at her mind.

She wanted to save the Queen.

She wanted to know that the Queen’s soul wasn’t destroyed beyond repair. That she still had a chance to become the woman that Emma knew and cared so much about.

Loved, even. Yes, now that she was facing almost certain death or worse, it was finally safe to let that thought out from the corner of her hear where she had buried it.

She loved Regina Mills.

\---------------------------------------------

When Snow White’s screams filled the air, three women had three very different reactions.

Emma Swan fought a blinding rage at the realization that she had failed.

The Queen watched with empty eyes as she tried to tell herself that she was happy.

And Regina?

Well, Regina just flicked her wrist.


	7. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina and the Queen each deal with the fallout of Snow White's execution.

Regina could feel the tingle of magic as she transported Snow White away from the pyre she had been bound to moments before. Though she knew the spell was subtle, the magic felt huge and so obvious that she was certain there was no way the Queen could miss it. She held her breath, waiting for the flash of temper to make itself known, but nothing happened.

After several moments, she dared to look over at the Queen. As the woman remained frozen, head bowed in front of the now smoldering pile of wood, Regina could feel her heart break a little. She looked so lost.

The truth reached out and smacked Regina across the face.

_‘She doesn’t know.’_

This woman, the woman she used to be, believed she had accomplished her goal. The satisfaction Regina had dreamed of when she reached this moment was nowhere to be found on the Queen’s face.

She had never succeeded in killing Snow White and the sheer frustration of it had nearly driven her mad. But now, watching what her reaction would have been to her success, she just wanted to weep for the soul of an angry queen who had had her innocence torn away from her.

Was this what her life was supposed to be? How could she have ever thought this would make her happy? As Regina watched, The Queen turned and went inside alone, shooting a warning glare at the Knights not to follow her. After a moment, the pair shrugged and left in the opposite direction.

There was no telling how long Regina would have stood there had she not caught sight of something important on the courtyard floor, near the site of the execution of a few minutes earlier. The shiny object caught her attention and she quickly magicked it into her hand.

It was the ring.

The stupid fucking ring that had been the cause of so many problems. All that work to save Snow White’s life and it was all for nothing, because she held the key to Snow and Charming’s meeting in the palm of her hand. She had accomplished nothing.

The futility of her mission was beginning to wear on her. She had arrived here, in the past, to grab Emma and come home before anything of importance changed. Instead, since her arrival, she had caused Emma to be captured, snuck into her own damn castle, stopped the execution of her sworn enemy, and still managed to fix nothing.

Henry’s existence was in danger again, but right now that wasn’t what was breaking her heart. Instead, the face of the Savior taunted her mind. She closed her eyes briefly, then immediately snapped them open again when the blonde’s face invaded her thoughts, eyes filled with blame.

‘ _You failed,’_ they seemed to accuse. _‘You failed and now I am going to die.’_

The hopelessness in those green eyes made her breath catch in her throat. Where was this coming from? Why was she suddenly unable to think about anything else?

She was certain these feelings were new. While she had grown to respect and even care about Emma in Storybrooke, there was never a time when her thoughts were consumed by her. The inconsistency of it drove her crazy, but there was no time to think about it right now. Right now, she had to go chase down Snow and save her, yet again.

\---------------------------------

Snow White suddenly found herself in the middle of the forest, with no idea how she got there. One minute she was tied up, about to be burned at the stake. The flames had already been licking at her bare feet and the bottom of her dress was singed, confirming what she already knew. She may have been a bit lost about what was happening to her right now, but that fire was definitely real.

The next minute, she was free and completely unfamiliar with her surroundings. Her confusion grew when a woman she didn’t recognize materialized in front of her.

“Who are you?”

The woman shook her head. “A friend.”

“I am getting pretty tired of people introducing themselves to me like that. Are you the same _friend_ that told me to steal the ring to trade to Blackbeard?”

Despite herself, Regina was impressed by Emma’s ingenuity. “No, that wasn’t me.”

“Then who are you? And what do you want?”

The woman hesitated before replying. “I wanted to give you this. You dropped it in the courtyard at the castle.”

Snow’s eyes grew wide as she took the ring from the stranger. “Were you there, at the castle?”

“Yes.”

Snow waited, but no more information appeared to be forthcoming. She glanced down at the ring in her hand.

“You know this isn’t mine, right?”

Oh, the irony. If this situation weren’t so desperate, Regina would have to laugh at the absurdity of it.

“Actually, I think it is, Princess.”

“You know who I am.” It wasn’t a question.

Regina watched her fingers twitch and knew she was wishing she had her bow with her. “I do, yes.”

“Are you the one that saved me?”

“Yes.”

Snow’s eyes gentled a bit and she tried out a smile. “What’s your name?”

The hesitation was back in the woman’s eyes as she replied. “Zelena.”

“Oh, you were at the ball.” She remembered hearing the name being announced just before everything went to hell as she had tried to escape. “Why did you save me?”

“I really wish I knew the answer to that,” Regina muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing. I’m sorry. Look, I just wanted to return this to you. I’ll be on my way now.”

“No, wait. Please.”

Regina turned around. “Yes?”

“I don’t know who you are or why you saved me but thank you.” She reached for the older woman’s hand and after a long moment, she felt her take it. Snow squeezed it in gratitude and tried out a smile. “It has been a long time since anyone cared enough to help me.”

“Yes, I know a bit about your history with the Queen. You know, it is just because people are so afraid of her that they don’t help you more.” She didn’t know why it suddenly felt so important that Snow not feel alone or abandoned, but it did.

“She really hates me.”

The mysterious stranger smiled, but her eyes looked sad. “I don’t think she hates you as much as you think she does.”

“No, she really hates me. Its ok, though. I deserve it.”

Hearing Snow acknowledge that fact hurt more than Regina could admit at that moment. “Perhaps you’re right.”

“I am.” She let go of her arm then and the stranger turned to go. Without warning, she turned back again.

“Princess?”

“Yes?”

The woman hesitated once more, then heaved a tired sigh. “Be safe, Snow.”

\----------------------------------

The Queen downed her drink and hurled the glass across the throne room. This was the fifth time she had repeated that process and she was no closer to enjoying the celebration she insisted she was having.

“Another!” she shouted at her steward. He bowed hastily and ran towards the table where he had brought in an assortment of wines and ales. He barely had a moment to hand her another drink before she downed it in one gulp and threw the glass at his head.

“Your Majesty.” Henry’s voice was subdued and perhaps even a bit fearful. She turned in his direction with unfocused eyes.

“What do you want?”

“Perhaps…” He almost lost his nerve when he caught sight of her face, but he cleared his throat and continued anyway. “Perhaps you should have some water.”

As angry as his daughter has been for years, Henry never believed he was in any danger from her. It was true that he was helpless to stop her from hurting herself and everyone around her, but he still prided himself on being the one person that could tell her the truth without fear of her wrath. His Regina would never hurt him.

The look in her eyes told him that he may have miscalculated. For the first time, the grief and anguish in his heart when he looked at his daughter turned to fear. Without warning, she turned and shouted at everyone in the room.

“Everybody out!!!”

The knights and valets hurried to do her bidding, practically tripping over themselves in their haste to get to the door. Henry turned to follow them, but the Queen grabbed his arm. Unsure if he should be afraid, he held his breath and waited for her next move. When she rushed towards him without warning, he could not deny the moment of terror that seized him.

Regina transported herself back to her hiding place in the throne room just in time to see her younger self launch herself into her father’s arms. She took in the look of shock on his face, a look that reminded her so much of herself when her son started hugging her again not long after the curse broke. It was a look of wonder. Of not wanting to let go for fear that she would realize it was a dream, while knowing she had to or risk overwhelming him to the point of pulling away.

As much as she wanted to stay and watch them, she knew she was being given an opportunity that she could not pass up. Her younger self would never let anyone see her in the state she was in, which meant that she would likely remain in the throne room until she had regained control of her emotions. That gave Regina a bit of extra breathing room she could use to wander around the castle for a while dressed as the Queen and demand some answers about Emma’s whereabouts.

“Daddy,” she whispered to herself.

She wanted so badly to go to him, and barring that option, to remain still and just drink him in. Instead, she comforted herself with the fact that he was getting a real embrace from his child, something she had not given him when this saga had played out the first time. She knew better than anyone how much that meant and right now she supposed it was just going to have to be enough. With a wave of her arm, she disappeared again.

\--------------------------------------

The dungeon was as dark and cold as she remembered. Ignoring the guards bowing and scraping, she walked slowly from cell to cell, taking in each prisoner as she walked. Most of them scurried to the corner of their cages, afraid to make eye contact, but a brave few stared at her with hate in their eyes.

How had she allowed herself to forget how it felt to be hated so much?

“Guard!” The years slipped away as she settled back into her old role as the ultimate authority figure. The guards glanced at each other before one finally ran to her.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Where is the blonde woman that was brought here last night?”

The guards looked at each other in confusion. She mistook their silence for a lack of understanding of her question.

“The one that was brought in from King Midas’ ball. She was wearing a red gown.”

They glanced at each other again nervously. “Your Majesty….”

“Yes?” She ground the question out impatiently when an answer was not immediately supplied. A bitter laugh interrupted her interrogation.

“You really are losing it, Your Majesty.”

She whirled around, furious. “Who dares speak to me that way?”

A tall brunette woman with light brown skin stared at her in defiance from inside one of the cells. “You’re going to kill me anyway,” she said with a shrug. “What difference could it possibly make now?”

Ordering herself not to fall into old patterns, she approached the cell. “Who are you?”

“You don’t remember me? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, Your Majesty, but considering that you just took me prisoner yesterday, I must say I am a little.”

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to remember back to when she took this woman prisoner eons ago. She had no idea who she was.

“You may want to see a doctor, Your Majesty. Not only do you not remember me, but you also don’t remember ordering the blonde woman to your throne room a few hours ago.”

Her heart sank at that. Emma was well out of reach now. Perhaps even dead at this point, who knew?

“What’s your name, prisoner?”

There was no answer and she snarled in impatience. “Answer me!”

A touch of fear entered the woman’s eyes now and as much as Regina hated it, she couldn’t deny the little thrill of satisfaction at seeing it.

“My name is Marian, Your Majesty,” the brunette replied at last. "Marian of Locksley.”

\-----------------------------------

“Regina.” Henry closed his eyes and held his daughter as she sobbed in his arms. He hadn’t wanted her to kill Snow, had fought against it with everything he had, but at least now it was over. Maybe now, his daughter could begin to heal. Maybe they could even be a family again one day.

“It’s not fair, Daddy.” She cried harder, causing him to wince at the way she shook in his arms. She hadn’t allowed him to comfort her since she came of age and Cora had begun using magic when she realized that her sharp tongue was no longer effective in keeping her daughter in line. 

“I know, baby girl. I know.”

“She was just a child.”

She cried herself dry, thinking of a little girl that used to look at her with adoration in her eyes, until she reached the point where he was sure she would just go limp from exhaustion. Instead of melting, however, she stiffened.

“No,” she said slowly as her voice turned cold with the realization. “It’s _not_ fair.”

Henry’s heart sank at the sudden change of demeanor. He watched as a familiar expression overtook her face and knew he had lost her once again.

“I worked so hard for this. I deserve to enjoy it. I deserve to _revel_ in her death.” Her tears were gone as quickly as they had appeared. She stood up and stalked around the room.

“I _earned_ this, and the enjoyment was taken from me. It’s her fault.”

“Whose?” The question was asked out of rote. He was too tired to be able to turn his attention to whomever was the latest target of her rage.

“The blonde. It has to be. I don’t know what she did to me, but she took this from me and she is going to pay for it.” Already, her mind was filling with ways that she could make the woman suffer.

“Regina, she has been bound in your bedchamber since before Snow was captured. How could she have taken anything from you? Please, daughter, listen to me.”

Her breath came out in an angry hiss as she stormed back into his face. “Listen to what?” she demanded.

“The blonde didn’t do anything to you, sweetheart. There is a good reason you are not happy right now and it has nothing to do with the woman in your bedroom.”

She turned her cold gaze on him. “Oh really? Please, enlighten me, Father. What reason is that?”

“You didn’t really want Snow dead, Regina. You never have.”

She went silent and for a brief moment, he wondered if he had actually gotten through to her. Even as he stood there, though, he could see that he hadn’t.

“No.” She thought of the snap in woman's voice when they spoke, the spirit in the jade eyes when the blonde had stared her down. “She did this. She is going to pay.”

A little thrill of excitement shivered down her spine when she thought of how they had left things in her bedchamber before Snow’s capture. This woman would beg for mercy and she would do it while she was so blind with lust that she would promise the Queen anything.

‘ _Then, I will have my satisfaction at last.’_

The promise she made to herself reawakened the part of her that threatened to shrivel up and die when she watched Snow White turn to ash in front of her eyes.

“Leave me, Daddy. I have preparations to make.”


	8. Showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma's magic returns during her next encounter with the Queen.

Henry Mills Sr. ran into the bedchamber where Emma was still bound to the bed. She looked up at him when he approached the bed and tried to untie her.

“What are you doing?” she asked. Her voice sounded flat, even disinterested.

“I’m setting you free.”

She watched as he struggled with the bindings. “I thought you wanted me to stay and help the Queen.”

“It’s too late for that. You need to leave before she kills you, too.”

The reminder that her mother was dead had her head falling back uselessly on the pillow. She wondered how long it would take. How long she had left before the timeline fully rearranged itself and she faded from existence.

Her son’s face haunted her mind as the depth of her failure hit her. Every mistake she made passed in front of her, mocking her complete uselessness.

Approaching an unknown portal.

Stepping on the tree branch.

Attending a ball that she knew the Queen would be at.

Getting captured.

The images danced in front of her, one by one by one, until she couldn’t take it anymore and she forced her attention to where Henry Sr. was still struggling.

“Why can’t I get these ropes untied?”

She shook her head at his naivete. “They’re magic,” she explained.

“I need to free you! I failed her with Snow White, I can’t do that again.”

Anger at this man rose in her. He hadn’t just failed his daughter with Snow White. He had failed her so many times that even the knowledge of his inevitable fate failed to make her feel pity for him.

He had watched his wife abuse their daughter and had done nothing to stop her. It didn’t matter to Emma that Cora had been an incredibly powerful sorceress and Henry didn’t really stand a chance against her. He had never even tried.

Emma had read the story book enough times to know that Regina had no one back then. Henry had never taken her and tried to run. He had never stepped in between his wife and their child to let her know that he was willing to at least try to absorb the blows. He had never sought help from someone that might have had a chance to stand up to Cora. Instead, he had allowed Cora to hurt their daughter over and over again and then stepped in with useless words of comfort once Regina was left bloody and broken.

Regina never spoke of her father, at least not that Emma could remember. Perhaps it was guilt at his death that drove her silence. Seeing their dynamic now, though, Emma couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to the story.

“Leave the damn ropes alone,” she ordered. He obeyed instantly, looking closely at her face in confusion. “She’s coming. You need to leave before she sees you.”

His eyes widened in understanding and he shook his head. “I am not going to leave you here to face her alone.”

Irritation filled her again. _Now_ he wanted to step in and help? She glared at him until he shriveled up in fear.

“You need to go. If she finds you in here, she will kill you and then she will have no one.” He stared at her and she growled impatiently. “Just _go!”_

He had barely ducked out of the room when the door flung open again and the Queen stormed in. A wave of her arm and Emma’s legs were tied with the same magical bindings as her arms.

“Really, your Majesty?”

The Queen didn’t reply, just waved her arm again and Emma found herself gagged. She narrowly stopped herself from rolling her eyes, not wanting the Queen to add a blindfold as well.

There was something strangely liberating about knowing your existence was about to end. The tickle of fear that had plagued her earlier was gone. She allowed her eyes to follow the Queen as she stalked around the room.

“What did you do to me?” the Queen demanded. Emma couldn’t possibly answer her, but even if she could, she would have had no idea what to say. What the hell was the woman talking about?

“Answer me!” This time, she allowed her eyes to roll as she stared at the Queen in frustration. Was she deliberately messing with her?

The Queen released her gag with a quick snap. “You will tell me what you did to me and you had better tell me the truth or I will cut your tongue out.”

“I didn’t do _anything_ to you! What are you talking about?”

Emma watched as the fury appeared to fade from the other woman’s face and a deliberate calm came over it instead. It was as though she were watching someone put on their costume for a masquerade party. The moment the facade slipped over her face was so obvious, it may as well have been an actual mask.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “This isn’t the way. You will tell me what I want to know, but first I will hear you beg.” She walked over to the bed then and ran a hand over Emma’s abdomen. The hiss that escaped the blonde filled her with satisfaction.

“Yes, by the time I am through with you, you will beg for the privilege of giving me what I desire from you.” Her smile grew at the look on the blonde’s face. “And Princess? Something tells me this won’t take very long at all.”

Emma’s eyes closed involuntarily as the Queen spoke. She barely even heard most of what she said, so focused was she on the voice she was hearing.

Regina’s voice slipping from this woman’s lips.

‘ _She’s not Regina,’_ she reminded herself desperately.

It didn’t matter though. There was no doubt in Emma’s mind that as soon as the Queen began to touch her, she would tell her anything she wanted to know.

As if on cue, the brunette began to run her fingers down Emma’s arm. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt the featherlight touch on the inside of her wrist.

It hardly seemed fair. This person standing in front of her had Regina’s face.

Her fire.

Her voice.

Everything she had dreamed of for so long and she couldn’t let herself enjoy this because deep down she knew this wasn’t Regina. Her last moments of existence and she couldn’t even appreciate them.

No, it sure as hell wasn’t fair.

“What do you want to know?”

When the Queen ignored her and continued to skim her fingers up and down Emma’s arms, she knew she was done for. Her fingers brushed over the blonde’s clavicle and she swallowed hard, trying not to let the Queen see how affected she was. Perhaps she could have resisted if the Queen had been rough, but this gentle touch was wearing down her defenses faster than she could build them up.

As though she could read her mind, the Queen spoke as her hands moved down and inwards towards Emma’s breasts. She stroked around the nipple as she did, the sound of her voice sending shooting sparks of desire down Emma’s spine.

“This isn’t normally my style, Princess.” Her tongue darted out and swept softly over Emma’s throat. Her mouth was inches away from Emma’s ear and when she spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper. “Normally, I am a bit more demanding in my sexual exploits.” She tugged at a nipple with her fingers to prove her point and Emma’s back arched up off the bed.

The Queen smirked at the sight. “Still, I sense that with you, a gentle touch is the way to go. You are strong willed and as much fun as it would be to break you, it does seem terribly tiresome.” Her fingers traveled downwards as she spoke, skimming over her hips before reaching her thighs. “It seems far more enjoyable to have you turn yourself willingly over to me. To watch you melt under my touch as you recognize that I am the one holding all the cards here.”

She moved her mouth from Emma’s ear and began to nibble at the pulse point in her throat instead. “Tell me, Princess. Do you think you can resist me?”

Resist her?

She didn’t even want to try. Not just because of the assault on her senses as the Queen expertly sought out every sensitive spot on her body. But because of the touch of vulnerability she could still see under the woman’s confident gaze and sure hands.

It was there in the way she briefly broke eye contact every once in a while, so that she could readjust her mask. It was there in the oh-so-slight tremor in her voice when she spoke, that Emma surely would have missed if she hadn’t already trained herself to listen for it.

No, this woman wasn’t Regina, but she would have become her one day. She was destined to have become her, except for the series of events that Emma had set into motion. Now, if the Queen cast the curse, it would never be broken. She would be stuck in time and miserable for eternity.

It was too late to save herself. Even too late to save her son. But maybe in her last moments of existence, she could show this woman that someone cared. Perhaps that would be enough to change the trajectory of her already doomed path.

“Kiss me.” She spoke the words in a desperate whisper, causing the Queen’s head to snap up. She laughed derisively at her prisoner.

“Once again, you overstep, Princess.” She lowered her head again, this time to take Emma’s nipple in her mouth. The blonde cried out as she tugged at it with her teeth, scraping it gently. The Queen released the nipple with a pop.

“I make the decisions here. Do not challenge me again.”

Emma could feel the arousal gathering in her core and she shut her eyes again at the sensations that were spreading through her body. Her mind told her that didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to orgasm under the touch of someone who was only out to hurt her, no matter how aroused she was. She understood that, but she also knew that logic would never work when it came to this particular person.

She tried again to slow things down. “What do you want to know?” she asked for a second time, hoping to distract the Queen.

This time, it worked. “What did you to me? What spell did you cast on me to prevent me from enjoying my victory?”

That made no sense whatsoever, so Emma didn’t respond. Infuriated by her silence, the Queen grabbed her nipple in her mouth again and bit down hard.

“Ow!”

“You will answer my questions, Princess! Do you not remember that you are my prisoner? I have been gentle thus far only because it served my purpose.” Her mask was slipping, and Emma could see the flash of anger in her eyes. “Your life is my hands, take care not to forget that again.”

“Your Majesty, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t cast a spell on you, I swear!”

The Queen pushed herself up off of Emma altogether, leaving the blonde feeling strangely empty at the loss of contact. “Then how do you explain why I can’t enjoy this when I have been waiting for it for so long? Snow White is finally dead at my hands and I. Feel. _Nothing!”_ The last words were shouted as she threw a fireball over Emma’s head, missing her by mere inches.

It also missed Regina by inches. She had snuck into the bedchamber, knowing herself well enough to know that if her prisoner was not in the dungeon, that was the only place left the Queen might have taken her. She had transported in just moments after the Queen and had hastily cast an invisibility spell on herself when she realized she had arrived too late. Whether it was dumb luck or a complete lack of interest on the Queen’s part that was allowing her to cast so many spells without being caught, she had no idea.

She also didn’t really care about that at the moment. Right now, she was busy watching the scene between Emma and the Queen in fascination. Desire warred with disgust as she watched her younger self touch whatever part of Emma’s body she wanted to.

The sense of entitlement was galling, but it was also strangely arousing, particularly when she took in Emma’s reaction. She watched the blonde squirm under the Queen’s touch and had to clamp her own legs together to keep her arousal at bay.

‘ _Not now, Regina,’_ she ordered herself. She wasn’t entirely certain if she was relieved or disappointed when something drastic changed in the room. The air suddenly crackled with power and the Queen jumped back in shock.

Emma could feel the moment her magic unlocked and she was able to access it again. Regina had been right in Neverland. There was no quicker trigger to magic than anger, and hearing the Queen talk about Snow dying at her hand suddenly enraged her to the point where she could no longer remain still.

She sat up with a shout, watching as the Queen’s eyes darken in confusion. The binds snapped easily, and she jumped to her feet.

“You killed her!”

The Queen looked completely stunned, but she recovered quickly and sent another fireball in Emma’s direction. Emma dodged it easily, then released a blast of her own magic, pushing the Queen back. She walked over and stood above her.

“You killed my-“ She stopped herself abruptly.

“Your what, Princess? Who did I kill? And who the hell are you?” She pushed herself to her feet and got in the blonde’s face demanding answers. Instead of answering, Emma grabbed her face in her hands.

‘ _Fuck it,’_ she thought and she claimed the Queen’s mouth in a bruising kiss, swallowing the woman’s protest as she did.

For a moment, Regina just watched as the two struggled for dominance. Then, she saw Emma’s face begin to turn blue. The Queen was no longer just kissing her. Instead, she was choking her.

Emma released a blast of magic, knocking the Queen down again. The pair alternated between kissing and trying to hurt each other until Regina couldn’t take it anymore. The Queen had Emma in a choke hold again when she released all the spells she had put on herself to disguise her presence at the castle.

“Enough!”

The Queen dropped Emma with a thud as the two of them stared at her in shock. For a moment both were silent, then they both spoke at once.

“Regina, what are you doing here?”

“Who the hell are you?”

She didn’t answer either one of them, just glared at them both. Emma looked properly abashed, but the Queen just snorted out a laugh. She raised her hand to release another fireball and Emma caught sight of it and raised her own hand in defense.

“That’s quite enough of these juvenile games from _both_ of you.” The pair looked at her once more and she shook her head at how ridiculous the situation was. Glaring at them, she said the one thing that she knew would stop their fight, at least temporarily.

“Snow White is alive.”


	9. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina and Emma face off with the Queen.

_Snow White is alive._

Emma and the Queen stared at Regina in a stupefied silence that under almost any other circumstance, would have been amusing. She steadily returned their gaze, wondering if they even realized how closely they were standing to each other.

If they knew their arms were still raised in the odd dance they had been caught in moments earlier.

The Queen spoke first. “What do you mean, Snow White is alive? I watched her burn.”

Regina noticed Emma wince in pain at the statement and shook her head. “I transported her away at the last second,” she admitted in the face of the Queen’s fury. She watched as Emma released a sigh of relief at her words.

“How dare you?” the Queen hissed. When she threw the fireball, Regina deflected without ever taking her eyes off Emma.

“You don’t want to try that again, Your Majesty.”

The Queen bristled. “Who are you?”

Face softening, Regina pulled her eyes from Emma at last to face her younger self. “You know who I am.” Her voice was gentle, and the Queen deflated visibly at the sound of it.

“You’re me.”

There was no need for a response, so Regina did not bother to offer one. The Queen crossed the room to study Regina’s face more closely.

“You can’t be from very far in the future,” she commented. “5 years at the most. How did my life change so drastically so quickly?”

Ignoring Emma’s attempt at stifling a laugh, she remained still and allowed the Queen to continue to study her curiously. “When I am from is not important. What matters is why I am here.”

“Why _are_ you here?”

 _Good Question._ “I’m here to save you,” she improvised.

“Really. Who are you saving me from, exactly?”

“From yourself.” She turned away from the Queen then and returned her gaze to Emma. Still, her body remained in tune with what the woman might say or do next.

“I don’t need saving.” The words were spoken bitterly and if they lacked some conviction, Regina pretended not to notice. She kept her eyes trained on the blonde, knowing herself well enough to know that eye contact with the Queen at that moment was a bad idea.

“I know you don’t understand now. But believe me, Regina. Killing Snow White would have been the worst mistake you would have ever made.”

The laugh that rang out in the air was loud and course. It dripped with anger as the Queen paced the room like a caged tiger.

“Killing Snow White is all I have ever wanted.”

“We both know that is not true.”

With a roar, the Queen released another fireball. Regina deflected it again, but this time she misjudged the trajectory and the flame grazed Emma’s wrist just before it fizzled out. She hissed in pain, catching Regina’s attention.

The brief moment when Regina dropped her guard to make sure the blonde was ok was all the Queen needed to make her move. She flicked her wrist, and Emma and Regina were bound side by side against the wall, arms pinned at their sides.

 _‘You fool!’_ Regina berated herself. The triumphant gleam in the Queen’s eyes spelled trouble. She was certain of that.

“Now then.” The Queen’s voice no longer trembled with rage. Now it was silky smooth and sounded so very dangerous. “You say that you are here to _save_ me. But I think that you are lying.”

The two prisoners glanced at each other briefly before realizing that was a mistake. It was too late, though. The damage was done.

“Ah, I see.” The sentence came out as a purr, making Regina’s heart sink. This adventure was becoming an exercise to see just how many ways she could mess things up and she was growing weary of it.

“You’re not here to save _me._ You’re here to save _her.”_ She laughed again. “Tell me Regina, what exactly is your relationship with Princess Leia?”

Despite the precariousness of their situation, that had her swallowing a snort of laughter. She dared to shoot another glance at her companion, not at all surprised to see her face bright red. _‘Really, Emma?’_

Turning serious again, she focused on former self. “You know that I can’t tell you that.”

“Do I?”

She shook her head in frustration. “Do you really need me to tell you the potential consequences of knowing your own future?”

“You know _nothing_ of my future,” the Queen snarled. “You two buffoons have come back here and trampled all over events that should have long since been set in stone and you truly believe that the future will remain unblemished? Tell me, Regina, how is it that I become such a complete and utter fool in so short a time?”

Regina didn’t bother to argue. The Queen was right, but she still needed to go home. She forced calm into her voice and tried again.

“Regina, look at me.” The Queen tried to ignore her, but curiosity won out. She looked sullenly at the Mayor who shook her head. “No, I mean really look at me.”

The Queen approached her cautiously and looked in her eyes. Regina took several deep breaths and steadily returned her gaze. Emma watched in fascination as the two women communicated in a way that she didn’t understand.

At last, the Queen looked away. “You’re happy,” she said flatly.

“I would lean more towards content. But yes, I am.”

The longing in the Queen’s eyes was impossible to miss. “It gets better?”

“It does.” Regina nodded, trying to keep her voice from sounding too eager. “You are right, I did come here to save the Princess. Truth be told, I was hoping not to run into you at all. But now that I have….let me help you. Let me fix this.”

Emma watched as the Queen resumed her pacing, the indecision clear in her eyes. She decided to speak her piece.

“Your Majesty, I-“

Before she could complete her thought, the Queen waved her arms and their bonds were loose. “Go,” she whispered. Regina headed for the door, but Emma walked over to the Queen. She didn’t know why, but something about the woman made her want to stay and comfort her.

“I said GO! Get out of here before I change my mind.” the Queen shouted.

Regina could see the Savior instinct rising in her friend and shook her head. “Not now, Emma,” she growled. She grabbed her by the arm and with a flick of her wrist transported them both back to the forest.

\------------------------------------------

Regina picked up a stick and poked at the fire she had magicked to keep them warm. The first few minutes of silence after they had left the palace had been a welcome relief, but the longer it continued the heavier it felt.

She thought back to the sight of Emma bound helplessly on her bed as the Queen touched her. She swallowed hard at the memory. It had been years since she had felt the hunger she had seen in her younger self’s eyes and even knowing that Emma had been there against her will did not completely dissolve her arousal. Ashamed of her reaction to the memory, she continued to poke uselessly at the flames, keeping her back to the blonde.

“Regina?”

“Yes?”

“Will you look at me please?”

She sighed heavily but turned around. “What is it, Emma?”

“I’m sorry.”

The quiet statement had Regina making eye contact at last. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” Emma repeated.

“Why are _you_ sorry? You’re not the one that…” her voice trailed off.

“That what?”

She shook her head. “You’re not the one that had me tied to a bed against my will, Emma.”

“She didn’t do anything.”

Regina didn’t answer, but her snort of disbelief told Emma everything she needed to know. “How long were you there?”

“Long enough to know that you’re lying.”

“She’s not you, Regina.”

Regina tried to smile at that, but she knew it looked forced. “You were always too quick to forgive my misdeeds, Savior.”

A few more minutes passed in uncomfortable silence as Regina resumed poking at the fire and Emma sat beside her and looked around for something to do. When she didn’t find anything, she dared to try speaking again.

“What are you doing here, anyway?”

“What do you mean?” Regina asked, confused. “You sent Killian to get me.”

“No, I know. But how did you know where to find me? Or when to find me, I guess.”

“Perhaps your mind is not as complex as you assume, Sherriff.” The sarcasm, after the unadulterated rage of the Queen and the tense silence that had settled between them, was a welcome change. She grinned, completely unoffended.

“I’m glad you found me.”

Regina nodded, but didn’t say anything. A few more moments of quiet passed before Emma shot to her feet.

“Enough of this.” Regina raised an eyebrow at her, but still didn’t speak. “I’m serious, Regina. Can you please just tell me what’s bothering you so we can move on?”

The brunette sighed again but stood up as well. Facing Emma head on, she bit the bullet. “I’m embarrassed, Emma.”

“Why?”

She had no response to that, at least one she could speak aloud. How was she supposed to tell her best friend that watching the Queen touch her had turned her on to the point that even now she could feel the arousal dripping in between her legs? She tried desperately not to clench her thighs together, as she avoided the blonde’s eyes.

“I just am. Can you please try and respect that and give me some time to come to terms with what she did? What I did?”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about. She didn’t do anything.”

“Stop _saying_ that.”

“Let me finish. She didn’t do anything I didn’t want her to do.”

Regina’s felt her heart skip a couple of beats and breathing suddenly became difficult. “What did you say?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“I was scared, Regina, but not of you. Her. You know what I mean.”

She nodded her understanding and Emma continued. “I was afraid because I wanted her. I didn’t know what that meant.”

“What that meant?”

“What it meant for _us,_ Regina. You and me, in Storybrooke. I know that you have Robin and that he is your soul mate and that you’re finally happy. I hate that I feel this way, but god, Regina I-“

Her voice was stolen by the feeling of Regina’s lips on hers. She stiffened in surprise for a moment before sighing into Regina’s mouth and allowing her body to relax. After a moment, Regina pulled back and looked at her in concern.

“Do I need to apologize for that?”

“What? No. Regina, don’t you know how much I-“ she cut herself off and threw her hands up in the air. “You know what? I have no idea what I am trying to say here.” The Mayor chuckled despite herself before she felt her lips being claimed again. This time, the kiss went deeper and before she could stop herself, she found herself moaning against Emma’s lips.

Emma smiled at the sound and reached her hand up to tangle in Regina’s hair. “You have no idea how long I have wanted this,” she whispered. The confession sent another jolt of desire straight to Regina’s core. The fire that had been simmering inside her since she arrived at the palace burst into a blaze that threatened to take over her entire body and rob her of all common sense.

Their tongues tangled in each other’s mouths as they continued to kiss, first kneeling down by the fire before Regina laid back on the ground and watched Emma’s eyes darken as she knelt over her.

“Can I touch you?” she asked. “The way the Queen touched me?”

Her hand reached out to cup the blonde’s face. “Are you sure?”

“I want you to feel the way I did, so you know how badly I wanted you. How badly I still want you.”

Fears finally erased, she nodded and closed her eyes. Her breath came out in a sigh as Emma stroked her face before letting her hand run gently down to the collar of her gown. “Can I take this off?”

With a wave of Regina’s hand, the top of the dress fell down until it was pooled around her waist. Emma allowed her hand to wander down to the top of Regina’s breast and planted soft kisses down her throat. She sucked gently just above Regina’s clavicle, pulling a deep groan from the brunette’s throat.

“Oh god, Emma.”

The blonde smiled against Regina’s neck, but did not stop sucking. She ran one hand down Regina’s side as the other began to knead one of her breasts. The Mayor’s head fell back, and she felt the arousal that she had been fighting grow. When Emma removed her mouth and blew gently on the pulse point she had been sucking, her groan turned into a sharp cry.

“Emma!”

“Shh. Let me take care of you.”

She nodded again and Emma began again to dot kisses around her neck and the top of her chest. When she reached her breasts, she adjusted her body so that she was kneeling in between Regina’s legs and leaned forward to gently run her tongue around her nipple.

Regina swallowed her gasp as pleasure threatened to completely overtake her senses. With the last bit of common sense she had left, she pushed Emma up. “Stop.”

Instantly, Emma stilled. “What’s wrong?”

“We can’t do this.”

Emma stared at her for a long moment and then nodded and climbed over Regina’s legs to sit beside her. Regina took several deep breaths, trying to calm the arousal that was still throbbing in her veins. She glanced over to see the hurt look in Emma’s eyes.

“Emma, please understand. It’s not that I don’t want to.”

Emma took her hand. “Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Every minute we stay here in the past, we run the risk of changing things in the future. We’re endangering everybody. We’re endangering _Henry_.” She watched the realization dawn in the other woman’s eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the Savior conclude that she was right. “We need to figure out a way to get back to our own time before everything we care about is gone.”

“You’re right,” Emma agreed. “What do we need to do?”

Regina returned her attention to the fire, this time to begin to put it out. “We need magic. Unless we want to go back to Rumpelstiltskin…” she stopped at the look of distaste on Emma’s face. “Yes, I agree. Well then, there’s only one place I know to get some.”

“Regina, that is suicide.”

“Better or worse than Rumpelstiltskin?”

“We barely got out the first time.”

“Better or worse than-“

“Better, damnit! Better. Fine, let’s go.”

The fire put out at last, Regina reached for Emma’s hand. Squeezing it tightly, she shut her eyes and transported them back to the palace.


	10. The Rift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina look for a way home.

“Huh.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “If you have something to say, Miss Swan, actual words would be appreciated.”

Choosing to ignore her, Emma wandered around the vault examining the various items that she found on the shelves. “This looks exactly like your vault in Storybrooke.”

“Well, considering it is the same vault, I suppose that is to be expected.”

That caused Emma to stop her exploration and look at Regina in confusion. “You brought your vault with you to Storybrooke?”

“Of course, I did. Did you think I built a secret lair in the middle of Maine, Emma?”

The question was asked with dripping sarcasm as though the thought of building an underground hideout was so much more ludicrous than transporting one across realms to a land entirely without magic. Emma muttered something under her breath as she continued looking around.

“What was that?”

“I _said_ you’re in a good mood.” 

Regina bit back the icy remark on the tip of her tongue and sighed. “I’m sorry, Emma. I suppose I am just…”

“Just?”

 _‘Horny,’_ her mind screamed.

“Tired. I’m tired,” she replied.

“Yeah, me too.”

They continued to look around the vault, studiously avoiding each other’s eyes. Perhaps it would have been easier if they had any idea what they were searching for, but while Regina had everything in her current vault neatly cataloged, even she couldn’t be expected to remember what items had been in her possession during this particular time period. The tension between them grew until it suddenly snapped when Emma dropped a box with a loud crash, causing Regina to jump in surprise.

“Damn it,” she swore.

“Sorry! I’m sorry.”

Regina sighed, feeling her heart rate return to normal. “It’s all right. Let’s just keep looking, ok?”

They searched for a while longer in silence, the awkwardness still palpable in the air. Emma felt her discomfort with the silence growing, until her mind was screaming at her to say something, anything, to break the unbearable tension.

“Regina…”

Regina ignored her and stood on her tip toes on a chair to reach a box on a high shelf. Emma tried again.

“Regina, can we please-“ She wasn’t sure what she planned to say because Regina came crashing down from the chair and landed directly in her arms, making both of them fall down.

“Let go of me, Miss Swan!” Regina snapped. She struggled in Emma’s grasp, trying to get free. She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks and cursed herself for blushing.

“Ok, ok! You’re caught in this stupid ball gown.”

“Emma! Just let me go.”

“Stop wiggling, ok? Just relax for a sec.”

The dark chuckle behind them caught them both by surprise. They looked up guiltily as a cloud of purple smoke disintegrated, revealing the Queen, caught between amusement and irritation.

“Are the two of you serious? What the hell are you doing back here?”

Free at last, Regina jumped to her feet. “It’s not what it looks like.”

The Queen snorted in derision. “I don’t care what you do with your lover, Regina. I am just wondering why on earth you feel the need to do it in my vault.”

Emma interrupted, face flaming. “We’re not-“

She was cut off by a quick touch of Regina’s hand on her arm. When she looked towards the brunette, the Mayor was shaking her head imperceptibly.

“Truthfully, I am not certain if I should be impressed or insulted by your audacity. Did you think I wouldn’t notice you poking around in here? Or did you just not care?”

Regina studied the Queen’s face closely. Beneath the dark amusement, she could sense several warring emotions lurking. She could recognize the irritation and the underlying flashes of temper, but she wrote those off as standard for the woman she used to be.

It was the other thing that she saw that made her stop and wonder. The longing as she looked, not just at Emma, but at the two of them interacting. She recognized it immediately and wondered briefly if the same longing were as obvious on her own face.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of the Queen’s voice. “She’s important, isn’t she?” she asked, nodding towards Emma. Hoping she wasn’t blushing again, Regina nodded quickly.

“Then why on earth did you bring her back here? Why aren’t you protecting her?”

“Protecting me from what? And I can protect myself, by the way,” Emma protested.

Both women ignored her. “Protecting her from you? You won’t hurt her.”

“Won’t I?”

“You haven’t so far,” Regina reminded her gently. “Have a little faith in yourself.”

The idea of believing in her own ability to not completely demolish her own future was clearly not something the Queen could handle. “Why would you take such a risk?” she yelled suddenly.

Neither woman had an answer that would satisfy her, so they both wisely stayed silent. The Queen ranted on, eyes firmly on Regina.

“We both know I am not to be trusted. You must know how difficult it was to let you go the first time. Why would take a chance like this?”

“Because we need your help.” The response came from Emma this time and it was so quiet that Regina almost had to strain to hear her. The Queen stared at her open mouthed.

“ _My_ help?”

At Emma’s nod, the Queen crossed over to her and grabbed her chin to look her in the eyes. Though the woman’s touch still felt somewhat threatening, Emma forced herself to remain calm and still. At last, satisfied by what she saw there, the Queen let her go with a sigh and turned around.

“What do you need my help with?”

“We need to get home to our realm and time,” Emma explained. “We’re stuck here until we can find the right kind of magic.”

Looking around, the Queen shook her head. “Not here,” she said. “The imp likes to pop in here every once in a while, for an unexpected lesson.”

Regina shuddered in remembrance. Rumple’s lessons were brutal, especially in the beginning of his tutelage, which was when the Queen clearly was right now. When they had first started the lessons, they were nothing short of torturous. He threw spell after spell at her without pause in order to test her reflexes, and he didn’t care if she survived or not. He showed up any time he felt like it, day or night, and pushed her to her limit to see if she had the smarts and stamina to cast his curse. That she had often been severely hurt and sometimes even in danger of death had not mattered to him at all.

Once he had established that she was the one he had been looking for, he had taken more care to ensure she was in no physical danger. Instead, the torture turned mental as he fed the darkness inside of her and twisted her psyche until she had no sense of self left. All that mattered was revenge and there were times she couldn’t even tell whether the thoughts in her head were her own or her teacher’s. Regina's heart broke again as she looked at the Queen, knowing full well just how much more suffering was in store for her before things began to change.

“Where then?” Emma’s voice broke into her thoughts.

“Honestly, no place is really safe from him,” the Queen admitted. “But he is rather hesitant to pop into the throne room because it is usually occupied.” Regina nodded in agreement.

“You’ll have to disguise yourself,” the Queen continued. Without argument, Regina waved her hand and allowed the glamour spell to overtake her once more. Emma raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

The Queen led them to the throne room, waving her arm to fling the door open. “Out!” she snapped to the room’s occupants. If the knights were surprised by the return of the blonde prisoner that they assumed was dead, they did not show it.

Once they were alone, the Queen settled herself on the throne and motioned for the other two to sit on the steps leading up to her seat.

“Tell me what you need,” she said.

“We need a portal,” Emma replied.

The Queen raised an eyebrow at that. “Portals are easy,” she commented. “But you can’t use a portal to travel in time.”

“Yes, you can,” she argued. “We both did it.”

“Actually, she’s right,” Regina interjected. “What we traveled through isn’t a traditional portal. A bean or something of that nature would be useless.”

“So what do we do? And how did you get here, anyway? The portal closed right after I fell in.”

“I used residual magic to briefly re-open your portal,” she explained. She pulled out the bottle from inside her sleeve. “There’s only a couple of drops left. Not enough to do it again, I am afraid.”

The Queen held her hand. “May I see that?” Regina handed it over and the Queen studied it closely. She opened the lid to the vial and took a quick sniff. “Interesting.”

“What?”

“I’ve never held this type of magic in my hand before. It’s completely neutral, not light or dark. With just a touch of something….not evil exactly, but…” she sniffed it again.

“Wicked,” Emma and Regina said at the same time.

“Yes! That’s it! Less angry than evil would be, but still very emotional. Very interesting.”

Regina hid a smile as Emma watched the Queen with curiosity. While she had always hated the way her mother and Rumple had gone about her magical education, there was little doubt that she genuinely loved the study of it.

Magic was a study of cause and effect; action and reaction; deed and consequence. She loved watching the puzzle pieces fit together when she got a spell form right and she especially loved analyzing the chemical properties of magical elements and their reactions to each other. Had she been born in another place and time Regina was certain she would have made a really good chemist.

She waved her arm, causing a dirt pile to form in from them, then held out a hand to grab a stick out of mid-air. She turned to the Queen. “Let’s work on this together.” At the woman’s excited expression, she re-drew the spell form Zelena had created back in Storybrooke and explained the various totems that had been in place.

“Courage from facing your darkest fear, the brains of man gone mad from too much knowledge, the most resilient heart and what did you say the last one was?”

“The innocence of a new-born baby, born of True Love,” Emma replied.

The Queen’s eyebrow shot up at that. “That’s dark,” she commented. “Really dark. Even _I_ wouldn’t do that.”

“Thank you!” Regina said, feeling a bit vindicated. “This witch was completely over the top.”

Emma bit back a smirk at the women's griping, but stifled her amusement when she realized the Queen was talking to her. “Can you tell me everything you remember about this portal, dear?”

“Well,” she said, biting back another smile at the endearment, “I remember lights shooting out in the sky.”

“What color were the lights?”

“Blue and red. Maybe some purple? And yellow, I think.”

“Munchkins, Quadlings, Gillikins and Winkies.”

“Huh?”

“The 4 lands that make up the realm of Oz,” the Queen explained quickly. “Those are their official colors. How much do you know about Oz?” The last part was directed at Regina.

“Not much more than you, I am afraid. I do know that there are elements that are unique to Oz that will be difficult to come by. We likely can’t replicate the magic. We won't be able to find the ingredients.”

“Yes, I agree. What else do you remember, Princess?”

“Not much,” Emma admitted.

“Walk me through what happened,” the Queen instructed. Regina listened quietly, impressed by her younger self’s methodical questioning. There was no doubt that at this point of her life, she had far more experience with magic than the Queen, but that actually worked against her in some respects. Not having as many facts clouding her mind, the Queen used her instincts to compensate and it clearly served her well.

“I was in the park talking to….someone.” The Queen smirked a bit at the annoyed expression on Regina’s face, but didn’t ask for more information.

“We were arguing a bit and then I saw the lights. I ran towards them and found the portal.”

“And you approached it.” At Emma’s nod of confirmation, she turned to Regina. “Is she always that reckless?”

Regina laughed. “You have no idea.”

“I wasn’t reckless,” Emma protested. “I stayed a safe distance back, but it got bigger and I fell and then-“

“Wait,” the Queen interrupted. “It grew?”

“Yes.” She saw Regina and the Queen exchange a glance at that. “Is that important?”

“Miss S…Leia, portals don’t grow. They open at their full size and stay that size until they close again.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means I was right,” the Queen said triumphantly. “You can’t time travel using a portal. It must have been a rift.”

“What’s a rift?”

Emma watched in fascination as the Queen grabbed the stick and began to draw out an explanation. For a moment, it was easy to see the woman Regina would eventually become as her voice got a bit louder with the passion for her craft. Regina was an incredibly skilled teacher, and it was amazing to see her natural abilities shine through at this point in her life before Rumple had had a chance to completely twist her mind.

“This is a portal,” the Queen explained, drawing a circle. “It’s shape and size are pre-determined and remain stagnant. They create a direct line of transport between two specific places and they are relatively easy to create. Even easier to re-open once they exist.” She looked up at Emma to make sure she was following, and Emma nodded her understanding.

“This,” she said as she drew an inverted star, “is a rift. It starts here, at a specific point in the fabric of space and time.” She pointed her stick at the center point of the star. “Then it grows in different direction, varying greatly depending on numerous factors, such as the sun’s position in the sky and any magical interference that may be present.”

She drew another form, this time a more traditionally shaped star and highlighted several lines. “The spell can travel along any of these paths that branch out from the origin point. This type of spell rips through the fabric of reality and there is no telling where it will end up.”

“So how was it that we were both able to end up here in the same place?” She glanced over at Regina who was blushing again. The Queen smirked, clearly enjoying the older woman’s discomfort.

“I don’t know, dear. All I can say is that the connection between the two of you must be incredibly powerful for her to be able to direct her magic to follow you through a rift." Emma looked over at Regina who was carefully looking away from her.

"Of course, this is all supposed to be theoretical," the Queen continued. "Rifts in time aren’t possible. At least, they are not supposed to be.”

“So what do we do?” Emma asked

The Queen sighed. “We can’t make more of what is in that vial and I have no idea how to go about creating a rift without that magic.” She looked over at Regina who was studying the drawings on the ground. “I am assuming you don’t either?”

Regina shook her head. “We’ll have to use what we have left. Do you have anything that can help make it last longer?”

The Queen thought for a moment. “There is a wooden case on the third shelf of my vault,” she said. “I have a small bottle of infinity potion in there. That should work.”

“What is that?”

“It allows you many uses of the same bit of magic,” Regina explained. “The name is a bit misleading, because you don’t get infinite tries, but it will allow us numerous opportunities to re-create Zelena’s spell form and activate it, using just what is left in the bottle.”

“Sounds good to me,” Emma said, standing up to go. She was halfway to the door when she noticed Regina wasn’t following her. Instead, she was looking at the Queen, a look of indescribable sadness on her face.

Regina stared at the Queen with compassion as she tried to figure out how to word what she was trying to say. “Regina,” she began.

“I know,” the Queen replied.

“I’m sorry,” Regina whispered.

Emma returned to the throne. “What’s going on?”

“Your lover is trying to tell me that I am going to have to take a forgetting potion, so I don’t remember anything that happened over the last few days.”

“It’s the only way to ensure that history doesn’t change,” Regina said.

“Maybe I want things to change.” The Queen looked stubborn and Emma felt a tickle of fear enter her heart. They were so close to being able to get out of all this with minimal damage.

“You have to!” she insisted.

“It’s not that simple,” Regina said quietly. “Right now, she is feeling hope for the future for the first time in many years.”

“But she won’t have this future if she doesn’t forget.”

“I know that, but you need to understand the amount of pain she has experienced. We are asking her to forget the first bit of happiness she has felt in years and return to the void she has existed in.”

The Queen could not have been pleased to be spoken about as though she were not in the room, but even though she did not anything, Emma could see in her eyes that Regina was right. She walked up the stairs to the throne and took the woman’s hand. The Queen looked surprised at the gesture but did not make any motion to withdraw it.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I truly wish there was another way.”

The Queen shrugged. “I don’t have the ingredients for a forgetting potion, anyway.”

Emma and Regina exchanged a glance. “If we get the potion for you, will you take it?”

“That depends on who is asking me to.”

“If I ask you?” It was Emma that presented the question and the Queen laughed, her face a study of contradictions as it depicted both the hope she wished she didn’t feel and the bitterness of the situation she found herself in.

“I don’t believe I am capable of refusing you anything, Princess. Perhaps that will be my downfall.”

Emma let go of the Queen’s hand and returned to Regina who was working on lifting the glamour spell in preparation for their separation from the Queen. When she and Emma traveled alone, her identity as the Queen was the greatest protection there was. She could say or do anything at all, and no one would question it.

“All right then, let’s get going.”

The Queen did not say anything, and the two women prepared to leave to return to the vault.

“Farewell, Your Majesty.”


End file.
